
Class 

Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 







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N-T. GREEN & C? BIRMINGHAM , ALABAMA . 








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ALABAMA 



HUMIiepM ILLUSTRATED 




1 886 : 

Published by N. T. Green & Co. 

Birmingham, Alabama. 






ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE 
YEAR 1885, BY N. T. GREEN & CO., IN THE OF- 
FICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, 
AT WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Roberts & Son, Printers and Binders, 
Birmingham, Alabama, 



"^O THE WORKINGMEN 



To the Wives and Daughters 



Birmingham. 




HRO' the night there arose a mighty voice 
Of manhood calling to the strength of men, 
g And morning dawned upon an old, red field 
L Made glorious by a City's sudden birth. 
" » Strange Providence of God that watches o'er 
The destinies of nations, and ope'd His ears 
To cries of hunger out of ruined homes, 
And gave such stores where only bread was asked ! 
And set the Iron Mountain in the%nidst, 
And, sheathed with coal, the breast of that grand State, 
Whose wan and shrunken form, and chilly limbs 
Needed new blood within each weakened vein, 
Strong, red and healthful for a blessed old age, 
And fire to glow again upon her happy hearth. 
The City that was built by men, because 
It was the answer of the Father's love. 
That never turns away from cry of human need! 
The little babe, that laj r within the arms 
Of that poor, weary, weakened mother-state, 
Hath grown to such imperial stature now 
Its arms uphold her in her olden pride, 
And she forgets the past, when hope had died. 
Its wealth hath robed her in fresh grace anew — 
Its power restored the sceptre she had lost. 

Maey Gordon Duffee. 

Blount Spkings, Alabama. 



TO THE READER. 



This book is the result of concerted action on the part of a 
few citizens of Birmingham, who, engaged otherwise in separate 
vocations, have united to prepare and publish it. There have 
been no local speculative influences, parties to its preparation. 
The accumulative fame of the mineral resources of Alabama, and 
the augmenting advantages of Birmingham as an industrial and 
distributive center, seem not only to justify an' attempt to satisfy 
the steadily increasing demand in distant quarters for the charac- 
ter of the information these pages contain, but that the publica- 
tion of facts so remarkable and suggestive in the field of industry, 
must redound to the benefit of those who have already acquired 
domiciliary interests therein, either as investors or as laborers. 

I am not unconscious that statistics or illustrations which 
may expose facts or improvements representative of the city of 
Birmingham, with due correctness, to-day, are not to be relied on 
to-morrow to contain the limits of the same class of facts, or to 
express the completeness of the same area of improvements. He 
who at early dawn has stood on the mountain peak which towers 
above its fellows, to watch on the distant horizon the coming of 
the first ray of the rising god of day, and has seen the developing 
arch of light, full risen, conquer the shades of hill top succeeding 
hill top and valley after valley in its majestic march over space, 
until every hill and every valley beneath and around exults 
in the glistening sheen, may trace in this sublime aspect of Na- 
ture the fitting similitude of energies which spreading their en- 
chanted wand over the crudities of wealth abounding here, con- 
tinually subdue and convert them into forces which enlighten, 
adorn and ennoble life. 

To the courtesy of Professors Eugene A. Smith, State Geolo- 
gist, and Henry McCalley, Assistant State Geologist, the public 
are indebted for the admirable scientific essays, now first pub- 
lished, which comprise the first two chapters. To Hon. M. T. 
Porter, Dr. Joseph R. Smith, Dr. Henry M. Caldwell, E. L. 
Clarkson, Esq., Dr. A. T. Henley, and others, I acknowledge 
obligations for interesting facts concerning the early history of 
the city. John W. DuBose, Editor. 

Birmingham, April 1886. 



Chapter I, 

The Geological Formations of Alabama, 
In their Industrial and Agri- 
cultural Relations, 



Eugene Allen Smith, 

State Geologist and Professor University Alabama. 



Sec. I. The Metamorphic Region. — This division in- 
cludes some of the most elevated lands in the State, in the coun- 
ties of Cleburne, Randolph, Chambers, Lee, Macon, Tallapoosa, 
Clay, Coosa, Elmore and Chilton, and comprises an area of 4,425 
square miles. This is sometimes alluded to as the "Granite re- 
gion" and the "Gold region." The rocks are mostly crystalline 
slates of various characters, and very easily distinguished from 
the uncrystalline rocks of the other sections of the State. 

The prevalent soils are of two kinds, viz ; a gray or more or 
less sandy soil ; and a red clay loam. Varieties resulting from 
the admixture of the two are practically innumerable. Both 
of these varieties of soil in their virgin state are fertile, and well 
adapted to the production of crops suited to our climate. In their 
earlier occupancy the red soils, or soils in which the red clay 
loam predominated, were preferred by agriculturists, but as time 
passed on the gray lands have gained in favor, and are now es- 
teemed the equal of the former. 

The most desirable farming divisions of this section, em- 
braced in the counties named, appear to be along its Southeastern 
border, in the counties of Chambers, Lee, Tallapoosa and Coosa, 
where the red loams are most commonly seen. In the interior ot 
the section the lands are considerably broken, and good farming 
tracts are mostly confined to the bottoms and low grounds. 



Sec. II. The Older Formations Including the Sil- 
urian, Devonian and Carboniferous. — A line drawn from 
Columbus, Georgia, in a Northwesterly direction and passing 
through Tallassee, Wetumpka, Centerville, Tuscaloosa, Fayette, 
Pikeville to the Mississippi border would embrace most of the 
area occcupied by the older geological formations; including the 
Metamorphic already described, which latter occupies the South- 
eastern corner of said area. All territory to the North and 
Northwest — something over 17,000 square miles — belongs to 
this second division now described. 

These two divisions are known as 

THE MINERAL REGION 

of North Alabama. The remainder of the territory of the State 
lying to the South and West is known as South Alabama, and is 
essentially an agricultural section. 

This second division may be subdivided into two parts. 

The first sub-division, occupying a strip about forty miles 
wide between the Metamorphic region of the Southwest and the 
line of the Alabama Great Southern Railroad, on the Northwest, 
is distinguished by the regularity of its topographical features. 
All the principal ridges and valleys are approximately parallel, 
having a Southwest and Northeast trend. On examination this 
regularity is found to depend on the fact that the underlying 
rock strata are not in horizontal position but are inclined, at 
often, very considerable angles, and their outcropping edges all 
have this general direction of Northeast and Southwest. And 
since these rocks are alternations of harder and softer materials 
the latter were easily washed out by streams and rains, while the 
former were more resistant to those agencies. The valleys and 
ridges thus determined must, of course, have the same corres- 
ponding general direction. 

The second sub-division lacks this regularity in its topo- 
graphy, except where long and narrow valleys with their mar- 
ginal and subordinate ridges traverse it from Northeast to South- 
west. When these exceptional areas are examined further, it 
will be discovered that they are only outlying tracts of the first 
section, possessing the same peculiarities not only of geological 
structure but also of constituent material. 

The first of these sub-divisions is known as 



THE COOSA VALLEY 
and the outlying tracts with similar structure are the Cahaba, 
Jones' Rouks, Will's, Murfree's and Browns' valleys. 
The second sub-division includes two parts, viz : 

THE C. COAL FIELDS AND THE VALLEY OF THE TENNESSEE. 

The constituent materials of the rocks of all these older for- 
mations are, in their extremes, of two kinds : siliceous and cal- 
careous. The rocks on the one hand sandstones and shales, on 
the other limestones. And the limestones are themselves often 
impregnated with siliceous matter. 

Bearing in mind the general rule that where sandstones and 
other hard siliceous rocks make the surface, they are less wasted 
by denudation and other agencies, and mountains or hills are 
formed, and that the limestone areas are for the opposite reason 
usually valleys, which become ridgy and uneven when the lime- 
stones are siliceous or flinty, the connection between topography 
and underlying rock masses may be plainly seen. 

Taken in a broad general sense, the strata of the older forma- 
tions, the Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous, consist of three 
sets of sandstones alternating with two of limestone. Of these 
the lowermost is a sandstone which is seen only in the mountain 
ridges in the Southeastern part of this division at no great dis- 
tance on either side of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia 
Railroad, from the Georgia border to the crossing of the Coosa 
river. These mountains are devoid of interest from an agricul- 
tural as well as industrial point of view, except insofar as that 
in the coves enclosed by them, and frequently upon their sides, 
some of the most extensive deposits of browns iron ore in the 
State are to be found. But these ore banks have probably been 
derived from another and overlying formation. 

These sandstones in the lower part of the Silurian formation 
are followed by limestones, at first highly siliceous and shaly, af- 
terward much purer, and these form the basis of the Coosa Val- 
ley, and occupy also a very considerable part of the other outly- 
ing valleys named above. . Where the flinty and shaly portions 
of the limestones form the surface, lines of hills and ridges occur, 
while the topography of the purer limestones is much smoother. 

The lower Silurian limestones, aside from their wide distri- 
bution are of much interest, from the fact that some of the very 



10 

best of our upland soils result from their disintegration. I have 
only to point out that the beautiful valleys with fertile red soils, 
extending through Calhoun and Talladega counties, and occuring 
in less continuously connected areas also in Shelby, Bibb, Tusca- 
loosa, Jefferson, St. Clair, Blount, Etowah, Cherokee and De- 
Kalb counties, are derived from the limestones of this age, in or- 
der that their importance from an agricultural standpoint may be 
clearly apparent. 

In addition to this the great bulk of the brown iron ores 
of the State are found in pockets intimately associated with these 
limestones, from the disintegration of which they have, in the 
opinion of geologists beeu mainly derived. Here the reader is 
referred to the article of Professor McCalley for details concern- 
ing these ores. 

Above this series of limestones comes another, the second 
sandstone formation, to which the Red Mountain ridges owe 
their existence. These ridges are found on each side of the long 
narrow valleys heretofore enumerated. Too steep in general for 
the plow, they are interesting because they carry a bed, or beds, 
of red iron ore of varying thickness. All along the Coosa Valley 
there are long narrow valley-like depressions running Northeast 
and Southwest abounding in these red ore ridges, and the amount 
of iron they contain is practically inexhaustible. 

Above the Red Mountain sandstone we have again a second 
limestone formation, at first siliceous, afterward purer, belonging 
to the Sub-Carboniferous formation. These limestones occur in 
narrow strips, in the long narrow valley spoken of but their 
principal area is in the valley of the Tennessee. 

The siliceous portions of this limestone make the Northern 
parts of the Valley of the Tennessee, characterized by light, gray, 
siliceous soils, in the section locally designated as the "Barrens." 
The term must be explained to denote not want of fertility, but 
rather the neglect permitted to overtake the locality when cotton 
planters worked their negro slaves in the more fertile region ot 
the immediate lowlands. The overlying purer limestones of this 
formation form the basis of the splendid soils of the Valley of 
the Tennessee, which though in cultivation for sixty-five years, 
with small attention to their preservation, generally no such at- 
tention, yet continue highly productive, making this part of the 
State one of the most prosperous in agriculture. The scenery of 



11 

the Valley of the Tennessee recalls portions of the region based 
upon the lower Silurian limestones in Talladega and Calhoun 
counties, and the resemblance between the two sections is still 
further carried out in the circumstance that the Sub-Carbonifer- 
ous limestones, like the Silurian, bear vast quantities of iron in the 
form of deposits of brown ore. The most important ore banks 
of this formation are in Franklin county and are spoken of more 
particularly by Professor McCalley as stated. 

Next above thij limestone comes the third great sandstone 
formation with its associated shales and coal beds, appearing in 
Lookout Mountain, Raccoon Mountain, and Shades and other 
mountains. 

THE GRANITE AND GOLD REGION. 

This comprises the counties of Cleburne, Randolph, Cham- 
bers, Lee, Macon, Tallapoosa, Clay, Coosa, Elmore and Chilton. 

The mineral productions of this region are more varied than 
those of any other section of the State, and include, asbestos, 
coram, corundum, tin ore, various ores of copper, gold, graphite 
or black lead, kaolin, magnetic ore of iron, manganese ores, mar- 
bles, especially the white statuary marble of Talladega county, 
mica, pyrites which may in the near future become an important 
article for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, and soapstone, or 
steatite. Of these the gold, the copper, the soapstone, the mica, 
the tin and marble ore have been already worked with more or 
less success, while some of the others will probably come into 
use as they are known to occur in very considerable quantities. 

THE COAL MEASURES. 

The coal measures are in three parts known as the Coosa, 
the Cahaba and the Warrior fields, once continuous, but now sep- 
arated by the long, narrow limestone valleys so often alluded to. 

The soils of the coal fields, as might be inferred from the 
prevailing material of the rocks from which they have been de- 
rived, are sandy and in general, comparatively poor. 

Yet, with a moderate outlay for fertilizers, they are exceed- 
ingly safe and reliable. They seem to be specially adapted to 
the cultivation of the grape, which promises to become one of 
the industries of the future. 

As a matter of course, however, the main interest of this sec- 
tion depends upon its coal seams which are only now beginning 
to be worked ; but it needs no prophet to foresee that the future 



12 

of Alabama will be largely shaped by the mining and other in- 
dustries connected with its coal. 

THE NEWER FORMATIONS OF SOUTH ALABAMA. 

The* newer formations of the State underlying an area of 
nearly 31,000 square miles, consist of sands and clays more or less 
indurated, marls, and limestones, arranged in beds which have a 
general dip or slope towards the South or Southwest, the slope 
gradually diminishing as the Gidf is approached. These depos- 
its have been assigned to three or four geological formations, viz : 
Cretaceous and perhaps an underlying formation, the Tertiary, 
and Post Tertiary. 

I. Cretaceous and underlying formations between the Coal 
Measures at Tuscaloosa and the undoubtedly cretaceous rocks 
near Finch's Ferry in Greene county, occur great deposits of 
sands and purple clays, whose geological age has not yet been 
satisfactorily determined, though it is probable they belong to the 
Jurassic or Friassic. 

These deposits exercise very little influence on either the to- 
pography or the soils of the region which they underlie, and 
hence possess but small interest to the general reader. 

The cretaceous rocks consist of a great series of sands and 
clays below and a limestone above. The sands and clays like 
those of the underlying group above mentioned, are of compara- 
tively little general interest and hence need no extended notice, 
but the limestone, which is known by the name of the rotten 
limestone, underlies a strip of country extending across the State 
East and West with an average width of about thirty miles, and 
as it forms in general a marly or limy soil of great fertility, its 
importance from an agricultural point of view is very great. The 
region of its occurrence is known as the black belt or canebrake, 
and is noted for the productiveness of its soils. These have been- 
described somewhat in detail in the report of the Geological Sur- 
vey for the years 1881-82, to which the reader is referred. 

On each side of this canebrake region there have been lately 
discovered beds of phosphatic material Avhich bid fair to bring 
about soon a profound modification of the farming practices, at 
least of the region where they occcur. 

The phosphate belt lying south of the canebrake, is proba- 
bly destined to be a more important one than the preceding, since 
the phosphates are in the form of phosphatic marls and lime- 



13 

stones as well as nodules of nearly pure phosphate. The marls 
contain from two to five per cent, of phosphoric acid, while the 
limestones hold as a rule, a good deal more, even up to 12 and 
15 per cent. 

These phosphatic limestones can very probably be used after 
a preliminary burning. In the vicinity of Dayton, in Marengo 
county, appears to be the largest and richest of phosphatic depos- 
its yet discovered. 

This Southern belt, like the other, extends almost, if not 
quite, across the State, from Sumter county to Barbour. 

2. Tertiary. — The lowermost beds of this formation con- 
sists of sands and clays holding beds of lignite or brown coal, 
which is often mistaken for true bituminous coal, but which con- 
tains a much higher percentage of ash or inert mineral matter 
than any coal of commercial value. 

In this connection it may be mentioned that from the lower 
part of Marengo county, specimens have been obtained of a kind 
of asphaltum, which, if found in sufficiently large quantities, will 
undoubtedly be of value. This substance has over 60 per cent, 
of volatile bituminous matter, and only one-tenth of one per cent, 
of ash. 

The belt of phosphates which lies immediately to the north 
of the Canebrake has its phosphatic matter (1) in the form of 
nodular or concretionary masses of nearly pure phosphate of 
lime, which have, however, not yet anywhere been found in suf- 
ficiently large quantity to be of commercial value (2) impreg- 
nated beds of green sand and other sands, to the extent some- 
times of 10 per cent, of phosphoric acid. These phosphoric green 
sands have been followed across the State from Pickens County 
to Wetumpka, and even so far as a near approach to the Georgia 
line in the same course. Until Wetumpka is reached they are 
from two to three feet in thickness. 

There can be no doubt about the value of such marls in the 
vicinity of their occurrence even though they should not be rich 
enough to bear transportation to great distances. 

The celebrated marls and green sands of New Jersey are 
quite similar in composition but contain, if anything, a smaller 
percentage of phosphoric acid than ours. 

The upper parts of the Tertiary formation are much more 
calcareous than the lower, and hold two very considerable beds 



14 

of limestone which together constitute the White Limestone of 
our geologists. The lower part of the White Limestone resem- 
bles the Rotten Limestone of the Cretaceous formation, and like 
it produces a heavy fertile soil, occurring in the "Lime hills" re- 
gion, as we have termed it. 

Between the limestone formation in the upper part of the 
Tertiary and the Lignitic of the lower, occurs a great sandstone 
formation which has been called the "Buhrstone" by Professor 
Tuomey. This forms one of the most prominent land marks of 
Southern Alabama, for there its resisting materials crop out in a 
line of high hills extending across half the State. 

The whole Tertiary formation in Alabama is remarkable for 
the fact that throughout its whole thickness beds of marl are to 
be found inter-stratified with its other materials, and as these 
marls usually have a very large percentage of green sand, their 
importance to agriculture in the future cannot be overestimated. 
The two most extensive of these marl deposits occur — the one on 
the Tom Bigbee at Nanafalia and Wood's Bluff, and the other on 
the Alabama at Black's and Gullette's Bluffs, and below Bell's 
Landing. 

The Nanafalia and Gullette's Bluff marl is remarkable for 
its great extent. It consists of a mass of shells over fifty feet in 
thickness. Its importance as a marl can be directly seen along 
its line of outcrop across the country, where the mingling of the 
marls with the soil has produced spots of very great and perma- 
nent fertility. The Wood's Bluff marl, though less thick, is no 
less important in its effects upon the soil as may be also proven 
by the fertility of the soil in the outcropping spots through the 
vicinage. 

It will be observed that both of these marl beds lie conve- 
nient to navigable streams running through cultivated farms, and 
tapped at several points by railroads running at right angles to 
the rivers. Hence the channels of commerce are awaiting the 
pick of the miner. 

During the summer of 1884, Mr. D. W. Langdon, Jim., of 
the Geological Survey, while collecting for Mr. T. H. Aldrich, 
discovered that several of the marls of the Tertiary formation 
contained very considerable quantities of phosphate of lime, 
either in the form of phosphatic nodules, or disseminated through 
the mass of the marls. The most important of the phosphatic 



15 

marls of this horizon occurs in the White Limestone region 
where several localities have been examined. It is probable 
much of the fertility of the "Limehills" is due to the phosphates 
which have been overlooked. 

The Marengo County Nanafalia marl has also in some of its 
layers very considerable percentage of phosphates which will un- 
doubtedly greatly enhance its value. It is to be noted that the 
phosphatic deposits of Alabama have only recently been known 
to exist, and for lack of time have not yet been examined except 
in the most superficial way. We can therefore only give sur- 
mises as to the influences which they will exert upon the agricul- 
ture of the State, but enough is known to place beyond any 
doubt their great importance. What the iron ores and coal are 
to North Alabama, the phosphates will be to South Alabama. 

In the preceding sketch of the geological formations of the 
State, it will be seen that about one-third of the area is occupied 
by those rocks which furnish coal, iron, and other mineral mat- 
ters of industrial importance, while in the remaining two-thirds 
agriculture is the main pursuit of the population, and the geolog- 
ical formations have, until recently, been of importance only in 
connection with the soils to which by disintegration, they give 
rise. Since the discovery of the existence of phosphate beds and 
their wide distribution in the strata of at least two geological for- 
mations, these last bid fair to rival the formations of North Ala- 
bama in the importance of the mineral matters which they hold ; 
and there can be no doubt that when the phosphatic deposits 
come to be worked up, they will affect the fortunes and interests 
of a very much larger proportion of the population of Alabama, 
than is concerned in the production of coal, iron, copper, gold, 
and the other minerals of North Alabama, although the products 
of this section, the coal and iron in particular, will probably con- 
cern a much larger number beyond the limits of the State. 



Chapter II. 



NORTH ALABAMA, 

OR 

Tine Mountain, Manufacturing and Min- 
eral Region of Alabama. 

BY 

Henry McCalley, A. M., C. & M. E. 

Chemist and Assistant State Geologist. 



Part I. 
General Description — Tennessee Valley — Black Belt — Coal, Iron 
and Limestone, the Three Great Powers of Wealth — Coal Meas- 
ures the Thickest in the United States — Warrior, Cahaba and 

Coosa Coal Fields — Summation. 



As it is of the utmost importance to the inteiest of the State 
of Alabama to make known as early and as thoroughly and as 
widely as possible her natural resources and as it is a part of our 
duty, we take great pleasure in telling what we know about 

NORTH ALABAMA, OR THE MOUNTAIN, MANUFACTURING AND 
MINERAL REGION OF ALABAMA. 

We shall of necessity have to be brief, but at the same time 
we shall attempt, so far as we go, to give a truthful account of 
the great natural advantages and wonderful mineral wealth of 
this part of the State. This region may be said to extend from 
the Black Belt, Canebrake or prairie lands on the South to the 
State of Tennessee on the North, and from East to West across 
the State. It is the expanded and flattened Southwestern termi- 
nus of the great Appalachian chain as it gradually dies away, and 
is for the most part a broad, elevated, sandy plateau with long 
narrow limestone valleys, running almost Northeast and South- 



18 

west, near its Northern and Southern boundaries. Its loftiest 
points are in the extreme northeastern part of the State, where it 
is most rugged and broken, and where the Allegheny mountain 
runs out or exhausts itself. These high points are the loftiest in 
the State and are from 2,000 to 2,500 feet above the sea level, 
though the average level of this mountain region is not much 
over 600 feet above the Gulf of Mexico. From this elevated 
Northeast corner, the area, as a whole, gradually slopes to the 
Southwest until it sinks below the drainage level and is lost un- 
der more recent formations near the belt of prairies. The greater 
part of its surface, outside of the above limestone valleys, is com- 
posed of the Coal Measures, to which, with older formations, be- 
long the hard rocks forming the first cascades or obstructions to 



navigation in the Alabama rivers. 



Throughout this entire re- 



gion, there can plainly be seen a strict relationship between the 




Mineral Exposition Buildin 



topographical features, the variety of productions and the geolog- 
ical structure. Its climate is bland, equable and delightful, 
with a mean annual temperature of about 58 degrees F., and its 
atmosphere is pure, clear and crisp. It has an annual rainfall of 
about 50 inches and we believe it to be one of the healthiest and 
most pleasant regions in the world in which to make a home. 
The greater part of it is dotted over with free running, everlast- 
ing springs, which during the summer months have a tempera- 



19 

ture of from 60 to 65 degrees F. These springs when of the 
sandy plateau, are usually of a pure freestone water, and when of 
the limestone valleys of a limpid limestone water, though, espec- 
ially among the former, there are many strong and palatable wa- 
ters of sulphur, chalybeate and alum springs scattered over this 
region. Most of the soil is sandy and poor, though, besides the 
fertile long narrow anticlinal valleys running through this region 
from Northeast to Southwest, there are, along its northern and 
southern boundaries, two of the most noted and productive agri- 
cultural areas of this or any other country, namely : the Tennessee 
Valley and the Black Belt prairies. 

Tennessee Valley — The Tennessee Valley proper, or 
the Valley of North Alabama, will average some fifteen miles in 
width and stretches entirely across the State from East to West 
along the Tennessee River. It has been called the garden spot 
of Alabama and is truly a most delightful country in which to 
live. In ante beUvm days when Alabama was at its agricultural 
zenith, this valley was second only to the Black Belt in its agri- 
cultural products, which comprised everything necessary for the 
sustenance of man and beast. No natural scenery, in my eyes, 
exceeds in beauty the oak crowned knolls and ridges of this val- 
ley, upon which stood the once palatial residences of the then 
princely cotton planters. The soil was rich, the climate delight- 
ful and the waters health giving ; what more could the farmer 
have asked of nature to make life desirable and home attractive ? 
This valley owes its existence entirely to erosion, the agencies of 
which are now at work, though it is believed, not to the same 
extent as in days gone by. It has extending down into it from 
the North the terminal ridges of the Cumberland mountain, 
which are from 800 to 1,000 feet above the general level of the 
valley and which do most to render the scenery varied and pic- 
turesque. These terminal ridges are all more or less hollow and 
doubtless many of them enclose subterranean lakes which have 
their outlets in some of the big springs so numerous throughout 
this section. Many of these big springs as they gush forth 
from the mountain sides or boil up from the low flat places, 
give vent to streams which carry off from 800 to 1,200 cubic feet 
of water per minute. Frequently these springs have been 
dammed|up at their mouths into subterranean mill ponds and 
made to run mills almost as soon as they come to light. It is 



20 



along this valley that the sub-carboniferous rocks of Alabama are 
most highly developed, reaching a thickness of some 1,500 feet, 
and it is in these rocks that the remarkable caves of North Ala- 
bama occur. These caves contain deposits of marl, bat guano, 
and of earths of nitre, alum and saltpetre, and from them there 
frequently issue bold streams of limpid water. 

The Black or Cotton Belt, Canebrake or Prairie 
Lands — These lands extend across the State in a strip about 30 
miles wide and before the war produced more of agricultural 
value than any like area in the United States. The soil is based 
on the rotten limestone, and is famous for its long continued 
productiveness. For from fifty to sixty years, the farmers of 
this section greedy of present gain and unmindful of the future, 
have taxed this generous soil to its utmost capacity in cotton and 




Birmingham Rolling Mills. 
corn, and still it yields remunerative returns in these crops for 
the labor bestowed. Having within it and on each side of it, the 
newly discovered rich phosphatic deposits, it is destined never to 
become poor. 

As this mountain region contains most of the minerals in the 
State of any importance, with the exception of the above phos- 
phates, we have termed it also the mineral region ; and as it has 
such exhaustless provision producing areas on the North and 
South as the Tennessee Valley and the Black Belt, and is so ad- 
mirably furnished with the means of cheap water and steam 
power and all the raw materials, we have called it also the manu- 
facturing region, and we predict that, in a few years, it will ren- 



21 

der Alabama much more famous and will bring her in a larger 
revenue for its manufactured products than all of her raw cotton 
did in 1860. 

STONE COAL, IRON ORES, LIMESTONES. 

Stone coal and iron ores are the chief or most important mine- 
rals of this section of the State, as they are everywhere when pos- 
sessed in sufficient quantities. Coal has been termed the source ot 
power iron the source of strength, and well they have, for they are 
the two most important elements in all commercial and manufactur- 
ing success. To them are attributed, much more than to all 
other minerals combined — the wealth, vigor, civilization and ma- 
terial advancement of all progressive nations. This is just as we 
would have it, for in stone coal and iron ores Alabama can com- 
pare most favorably with the world. We would not give the 
combined wealth of these two minerals and limestone in the min- 
eral region of Alabama for all the gold fields on the globe, for in 
them are stored up the great foundation stones, as it were, of fu- 
ture greatness and wealth which will enable us for centuries to 
come to demand, in exchange for them, golden tributes in ready 
made coin. Other minerals may, and do, lend prosperity to a 
country, but it is short-lived and local in importance, when com- 
pared with that insured by these three great poivers of wealth. 
They, in the wonderful deposits which are said to astonish every 
one but ourselves, were suspected in this region more than half 
a century ago, but, for want of transportation and capital, they 
have been allowed to remain unmolested until within a few 
years ago when systematic efforts were set on foot to develop 
them. We believe, or in fact we know, from our imperfect 
knowledge of these resources and from the many paying invest- 
ments which we see rapidly going up around us, that these min- 
erals will, without a doubt, render this region within a score of 
years not less famous for coal and iron than the great State of 
Pennsylvania. 

COAL AND COAL MEASURES, THE THICKEST IN THE UNITED 

STATES. 

Stone coal has been one of the main instruments in the pro- 
motion of the rapid progress of the present century. Without 
it, commerce and manufacture would not have reached their 
present unprecedented degree of prosperity ; and without it, no 
people can ever expect to excel, or gain permanent success, in 



22 

these great industries. We have here in Alabama, the most 
southern terminus of the great coal basin of the Ohio or of the 
great Appalachian coal field, as it thickens, widens and flattens 
before dying out or becoming covered up. It once formed, here 
in Alabama, one great connected coal field, covering nearly one- 
fourth the surface area of the State, but now it consists of three 
more or less distinct fields with an estimated aggregate area of 
8,860 square miles, having, by an all-wise act of Providence, 
been cut up by long narrow anticlinal valleys which hold innu- 
merable and inexhaustible beds of fine limestone, and of red and 
brown iron ores. These three coal fields were named by Profes- 
sor Tuomey in 1849, the Warrior, the Cahaba and the Coosa, re- 
spectively, from the names of the rivers which drain them, and, 
in a general way, are long, shallow, tray-shaped depressions, made 
so by their elevated rims along the limestone valleys. They are 
all fertile in coal and two of them, at least, comprise the thickest 
coal measures in the United States. They have many advantages, 
the most important of which are, the inexhaustible quantity and 
unexcelled quality of their coal, and the nearness to their coal 
of the iron ores and limestones which protrude up between 
them, and the ease and cheapness with which their coal can 
be mined, and their most favorable location, for, as has been 
said, they are bounded on three sides by coal-less areas and 
are the nearest of any coal fields to the Gulf of Mexico and 
the Atlantic ports south of Charleston. Their most produc- 
tive measures have also the great advantage of easy accessi- 
bility by both land and water, for they are not on the tops 
of high and rough mountains as in other States, but form com- 
paratively low plain-like areas with free running rivers winding 
through them, which can be made navigable the year round for 
steam tugs and coal barges. They consist of a series of sand- 
stones (conglomerates) and shales in which occur the inter- 
bedded seams of coal. Most of the coals have under-beds of fire 
clay and at several horizontal positions there is some little lime- 
stone. The first coal mined in Alabama, according to Professor 
Tuomey, was in the year 1834, near the University of Alabama, 
and after that time for many years, up to the advent of the cen- 
tral railroads through Alabama, or until about fifteen years ago, 
much coal was raised during the summer months at low stages 
of the water, in an unsystematic way, from the outcrops in the 



23 

beds of the rivers and creeks near the rivers, and loaded in flat- 
boats, built close at hand, ready to be floated down the river at 
the first freshet. This business, however, was so precarious of 
life and property, that no considerable capital was ever invested 
in it and no regular miners ever engaged in it, and it was not 
until after the building of the Montgomery and Decatur railroad 
in 1872, that any coal mining on an extensive scale, and after 
scientific methods, was ever done in Alabama. The coals of 
these fields are all bituminous coals, but are of every variety and 
suitable for every purpose to which bituminous coals can be ap- 
plied. Some of them are very highly bituminous, or gas making 
coals, while others, though free burning, are dry and might be 
called semi-bituminous coals. Some are bright and hard and well 
adapted to much handling, while others are of a duller color and 
of a softer and more friable nature. Some have been proven by 
experiments and uses on a large scale to be especially fitted for 
heating, steaming, blacksmithing and iron ore smelting, for 
which purposes they are now being largely consumed, and they 
all, as a class, show on chemical analysis compositions equivalent 
to the bituminous coals of any other State. The coal seams are 
in long flat waves and vary some in quality and thickness, even 
in the same seams, but not more so than those of other fields. 
These measures besides being rich in coal, also contain,in greater 
or less quantities, fire-clay, clay ironstones, blachband iron ores, 
building and paving stones and linionite, and are also, for the most 
part, covered by a virgin forest of yellow pine, oak, chestnut, and 
other valuable timber. 

WARRIOR COAL FIELD. 

This field is now attracting a great deal of attention, especi- 
ally on account of its size, its excellent coal and the slight dip of 
its strata. It is the most northwestern of the three coal fields of 
Alabama and comprises all the coal measures northwest of the 
Alabama Great Southern Railroad, or all the measures drained 
by the Warrior and Tennessee rivers. It has an area of about 
7,810 square miles or is nearly ten times as large as the other 
two fields combined. It consists of a plateau and basin area, 
without any distinct line of demarkation between the two, the 
one gradually merging into the other. The plateau is the higher 
northeast portion and is divided into two parts by an anticlinal 
valley, which, as an anticlinal ridge, extends some distance down 



25 

into the basin, and this makes the upper or northeast edge of the 
basin concave, or forked. From the south east edge of this field 
there has also been cut off by a combined fold and fault a strip 
some twelve miles long by four miles wide, which has received 
the name of the little basin. This little basin is also of a tray-shape 
and is composed of strata much lower in the series than 
those of the surface of the other side of the fault, or of the big 
basin side which is of a dawn-throw along the fault. This field, 
as a whole, gradually slopes from the broad elevated plateau, 
constituting the northeastern portion, to the comparatively flat 
and low basin area making the greater southwest half. The 
measures thicken and become more productive in coal from the 
northeast to the southwest, until they reach a thickness of over 
3,000 feet with about 50 seams of coal. These seams of coal 
range in thickness from a few inches to some 14 feet, and at least 
35 of them, with a total thickness of about 90 feet, are of worka- 
ble thickness, or are of 18 inches, and more, in thickness. The 
thicker seams, however, have always more or less partings of 
slate. Now, after a most liberal discount for thinning out in the 
seams and for every other conceivable cause, suppose that the 
available coal of this field would cover an area of only 500 square 
miles, 75 feet in thickness, and we have a block of coal 75 miles 
long by 50 miles wide and 10 feet thick, or 37,500,000,000 tons, 
enough to last for nearly 10,275 years at the rate of 10,000 tons 
per day. This estimate we do not believe to be half large 
enough. These coals are well suited for gas, steam, fuel and 
blaeksmithing purposes, and some of them are excellent coking 
coals. The characteristic of the coal seams of this field is, the 
small angle of general dip, which is usually not more than 3 
to 4 degrees to the southwest ; though, from waves and 
other disturbances, the dip is frequently in a different direction 
from the above and much greater. We are convinced that, with- 
out a doubt, the Warrior coal field is destined in the near future 
to be the center of large coal industries and to be one of the great- 
est coal producing areas in the United States. 

CAHABA COAL FIELD. 

This is the middle of the three coal fields in Alabama, and 
contains the most southern true coal in the United States. It 
covers an area of over 400 square miles and its measures are said 
to be some 5,000 feet thick, It is reported to have only ten to 



26 

twelve seams of coal of a thickness of 2 feet 6 inches and over, 
with a total thickness of from 40 to 50 feet and a maximum 
available thickness of coal of only 30 to 35 feet, though some of 
the thinner seams are as much as 18 inches in thickness. We 
believe, however, that the number of thick seams is greater than 
this, and that the above given total thickness is not much more 
than half enough. Estimating, therefore, after a most liberal 
discount in that the available coal in the seams of 2 feet 6 inches 
and over in thickness, will cover 200 square miles of the field, 
20 feet deep, and we have a lump of coal 25 miles long by 16 
miles broad and 10 feet thick, which will weigh about 4,000,000,- 
000 tons and will do us for nearly 1,100 years, using 10,000 tons 
per day. The coals of this field are of a great variety, and as a 
general thing, are of fine quality and hard, resisting well the ac- 
tion of atmospheric changes. They are remarkable for their 
dryness, small percentage of ash and large amount of fixed car- 
bon. Some of them are good coking coals while others are dry 
burning or steam coals. The coal seams of this field appear to 
be unusually free from slate partings, and hence are well adapted 
to clean mining. Altogether, they would be taken to be less bi- 
tuminous, firmer and purer than the coals of the Warrior field, 
but they have the great disadvantage of being highly inclined. 

COOSA COAL FIEL^. 

This is the smallest, most easterly, and least known of the 
three coal fields of Alabama. Before the building of the Georgia 
Pacific Railroad it was far away from any line of transportation, 
and hence has been but very little explored. It has an area of 
something over 400 square miles and is known to contain, at the 
least, three seams of coal, of respectively 3 feet, 4 feet and 3J feet 
in thickness. Supposing, as a very low estimate, that the avail- 
able coal of these three seams will cover an area of 200 square 
miles only 3 feet in thickness, and we have a block of coal 10 
miles long by 6 miles broad and 10 feet thick, weighing 600,- 
000,000 tons, which would supply us nearly 165 years, with 10,- 
000 tons per day. This coal is said to be a beautiful black, 
shining coal, rather friable for stocking but exactly suited to 
coking. It is also said to contain but a very small percentage of 
sulphur and ash. 



27 

SUMMATION. 

On summing up the above estimations, which we believe to 
be entirely too small, we get for the available coal in Alabama, a 
lump 70 miles long by 60 miles broad and 10 feet thick, which 
weighs about 42,100,000,000 tons, and would much more than 
supply a demand of 10,000 tons daily for 11,500 years. 



Part II. 

Iron Ores — Their Marvellous Abundance and Excellence — Princi- 
pal Kinds and Localities — Limestone and other Mineral Sub- 
stances — Building and Paving Stones, and Road Materials — Pe- 
troleum — Mineral Springs — Lumbering — Manufacturing — Mill- 
ing and Agriculture. 



Of all minerals, iron is the most important, most useful and 
most influential. It seems to invest, as has been beautifully said, 
all countries which possess it in large quantities and which man- 
ufacture it extensively, with its hardy nature and sterling quali- 
ties. We have here in Alabama the most southern regular de- 
posits of ores of this valuable mineral in the United States, and 
every facility for rendering Alabama one of the greatest iron 
producing countries in the world. We have hundreds and hun- 
dreds of beds of this ore scattered all over the mountain region 
of Alabama, and, we believe, billions and billions of tons still un- 
developed. In fact, we do not know all that we have in this re- 
spect, it would simply be impossible to point out the separate lo- 
calities where this ore occurs. We can merely deal with the 
principal of these localities and content ourselves with the belief 
that when we are done the half will not have been told and that 
the quantity is simply inexhaustible, and that the quality cannot 
be improved upon for many purposes. The principal localities 
in the order of their importance are : (1) The long narrow anti- 
clinal valleys of Central and Northeast Alabama; (2) The sub- 
carboniferous valleys of North Alabama; (3) The Drift of North- 
west Alabama; (4) The older or metamorphic rocks of East 
Alabama. The ores in the order of their practical value are : 
(1) Hematite, also known as red hematite, red iron ore, specu- 



28 

lar ore, oxide of iron, Jossiliferous iron ore, lenticular ore, Clin- 
ton ore and dyestone ore, has, when pure, about 70 per cent. 
of metallic iron. (2) Limonite, or hydrous peroxide of iron, or 
brown hematite, brown iron ore, or brown ore, or brown oxide of 
iron, contains, when pure, about 60 per cent, of metallic iron. 
(3) Sideritp:, spathie ore, day iron stone and, black band are 
names for the different forms of carbonate of iron, has in its purest 
varieties about 40 per cent, of metallic iron. (4) Magnetite, 
or magnetic ore, when pure, is 72 per cent, of metallic iron. (5) 
Pyrite or pyrites, when pure has 46 per cent, of metallic iron. 

The value of an ore depends on its quantity, quality, and 
vicinity of fuel and material for flux. According to this crite- 
rion the first two ores mentioned above are by far the most im- 
portant or valuable to us. 

(1) Hematite, or red iron ore, is at present he principal ore 
and main dependence of the majority of the furnaces now in blast 
in the State of Alabama. It is highly esteemed as an ore, and in 
its purest forms rivals even in richness the brown ore. It occurs 
principally in the Upper Silurian formation along the moun- 
tainous sides and the ridges and hills of the anticlinal valleys of 
the State, and in the metamorphic rocks of East Alabama, These 
Upper Silurian rocks with their imbedded seam of red ore, are a 
most persistent formation, reaching irregularly along the Eastern 
escarpment of the Alleghany mountains from Canada, through 
New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia, to 
about Pratt's Ferry, Alabama, on the Cahaba river, where they 
become hid from sight by the newer, overlying unconformable 
strata. For this whole distance, the band of red ore is said to be 
almost continuous, but no where developed to such an extent as 
here in Alabama. It is reported in New York to be 2 feet thick ; 
in Pennsylvania, 4 feet; in Tennessee, 7 or 8 feet, and in Ala- 
bama it occurs, within 150 feet of strata, in three seams with a 
combined average thickness of ore of about 25 feet. These 
three seams of ore are separated by sandstones and shales. Ala- 
bama seems, therefore, to have of this valuable ore the lion's 
share. It belongs to the Clinton group of the Upper Silurian 
formation, and here in Alabama was brought to the surface by 
the great anticlinal upheavals. The bands of ore usually occur 
on both sides of our long narrow, anticlinal valleys, and are fre- 
quently duplicated on one or both sides, by folds and faults, and 



29 

if the parts here in Alabama were stretched out in a single 
straight line they would doubtless reach some 400 or 500 miles. 
They are in regular stratified layers, and from their nature and 
position would seem to extend down indefinitely. They are fre- 
quently very fossiliferous, though the quality and richness of the 
ore varies from place to place along the outcrop, and as it is gone 
down into. On the surface, it is richest; seeming to have been 
leached, becoming more and more calcareous downward, until a 
point is reached after which its composition would doubtless remain 
constant. On the supposition that the quantity and quality of this ore 
in Alabama are far below what we really believe them to be, or 
that it will form a seam only 50 miles long with an available 
thickness of only ten feet and an average of only 10 per cent, of 
metallic iron, and a specific gravity of only 3. all the way down, 
and we will still have for every foot of descent nearly 70,000 tons 
of metallic iron. It would therefore take a descent of less than six 
feet, even into this greatly reduced seam, to build us a railroad 
around the earth. The above supposition, we believe, is far 
within the real state of things, for the reasons that much of the 
available ore has 50 per cent, of metallic iron, and a thickness, 
in one of the seams of at least 15 feet, and a specific gravity of 
nearly 4. This ore is oolitic in structure, or composed of large 
glazed grains of various sizes cemented together and oftentimes 
flattened. It is most frequently fossiliferous. Its impurities are 
sandy and argillaceous matters and carbonate of lime. The pres- 
ence of the latter is rather an advantage, as it can be made to an- 
swer the part of a flux, and the argillaceous matters are not in 
sufficient quantities to require the washing of the ore. It is the 
easiest of all iron ores to work, and yields an excellent grade of 
iron. This famous ore is especially well developed here near 
Birmingham, where, with its partings of shale, it reaches an av- 
erage thickness of some 30 feet, well defined between strata of 
hard ferruginous sandstone, and is of superior quality both as to 
purity and richness. The local name, Red Mountain, has been 
given here to both the ridges and the Geological group which 
contains this valuable ore. It has been mined here in Red 
Mountain considerably for the last few years, until now its daily 
output must be over 1,000 tons. It is not used alone in the fur- 
naces, but as a mixture with a small fraction of its own weight ot 
limonite from along the anticlinal valleys below its outcrops. 



31 

This deposit of iron ore is not only the largest in the State, but is 
regarded as one of the mineral wonders of the world. The hema- 
tite of the older or metamorphic rocks of East Alabama, which is 
called specular ore is not so well known, and though believed to 
exist in very considerable quantities, is comparatively insignifi- 
cant in this respect when compared with the great body of ore of 
Red Mountain. It is a harder and more compact variety than 
the ore of Red Mountain. 

(2) Limoxite or Brown Hematite, is the most abundant 
and widely diffused of all iron ores. It is scattered in greater or 
less quantities all over the Mountain Region of Alabama, but the 
accumulations arc especially numerous and vast in the long nar- 
row anticlinal valleys, and in Little or Russellvillc Valley, and 
in the Drift deposits of Northwest Alabama. 

(a) Limonite of the Anticlinal Valleys. These are 
the most important limonite deposits in the State, and are be- 
lieved to be the result of the decomposition of the ferruginous 
limestones and dolomites of the Knox group of the Lower Silu- 
rian formation. They occur along the anticlinal valleys in the 
greatest abundance, and seem to be most numerous and exten- 
sive where the disturbances and hence decompositions, have been 
the greatest. They are found principally in the leached knolls, 
hills and ridges, which are from 50 to 200 feet high, occupying 
a strip from two to three miles broad, running up and down each 
anticlinal valley near its center These knolls, hills and ridges, 
are composed of reddish and orange colored loam, without peb- 
bles, but with a large percentage of limonite. The ridges are 
frequently continuous for several miles, and have the ore-banks 
cropping out in more or less quantities along them. These, ore- 
banks are not evenly distributed but are much more frequent 
and extensive in some places than in others. They are sometimes 
grouped thickly over areas of 500 and 600 acres, and again are 
almost wanting. In some of the richer localities, the surface ot 
the knolls and hills, several acres in extent, are almost covered 
with this ore, which seems to extend through and through these 
knolls and hills. The ore exists in the banks as hard solid ore 
or as honey-comb ore or as ochreous and earthy varieties, and 
from small shot-ore to boulders 15 and 20 feet in diameter 
of 3,000 tons and more in weight. It is all good ore on ac- 
count of its purity and richness, containing from 50 to 60 per 



32 

cent, of metallic iron. Though it is usually in the hills, knolls 
and ridges, it is found sometimes in the low grounds. It is now 
being used to a considerable extent with goods results, both as a 
mixture with the fossiliferous ore from Red Mountain in the coke 
furnaces around Birmingham, and alone in the charcoal furnaces 
of East Alabama. This ore occurs in noteworty quantities also 
along the sides of these anticlinal valleys with the sub-carbonifer- 
ous rocks from which these smaller deposits are believed to have 
been derived. These anticlinal valleys are not only the best limonite 
fields in the State, but when this ore is taken along with the bor- 
dering fossiliferous ore, they are believed to form the greatest de- 
posits of iron ore in this or any other country. As this ore occurs 
in irregular pockets its quantity cannot be easily determined, but 
we do know that it is such as to be well considered inexhaustible. 
The Alabama Great Southern and the Selma, Rome and Dalton 
railroads run either through or very near the main deposits of this 
ore. 

(b) Limonite of Little or Russellville Valley. This 
ore occurs very much like that just described, though it is believed 
to be derived from the disintegration of entirely different rocks ; 
namely, the ferruginous cherty masses of the St. Louis limestone. 
It is in banks or deposits imbedded in red loam containing usually 
the cherty pebbles of the surface, and hence must be of compara- 
tively recent age. These ore banks consist either of an aggregated 
collection of small nodules or of isolated huge boulders scattered 
through the matrix, and are very irregular and uncertain both as 
to richness and extent. Some of them are very prolific and would 
seemingly yield thousands of tons of ore before giving out r while 
others would hardly justify the working. They occur also princi- 
pally in hills and ridges which are sometimes six and eight miles 
long. They are not regularly distributed through the hills and 
ridges, but are rather grouped together at intervals. The ore is 
of excellent quality and its iron is said to have made the best ol 
casts. For want of transportation this ore is not now used, though 
it once supplied a furnace and proved its excellence. These depos- 
its are regarded as second in importance in the State to those of the 
anticlinal valleys. There is no estimating, with any degree of cer- 
tainty, the amout of this ore, we merely know that the quantity is 
very large. 



33 

(c) Drift Deposits. These deposits are distributed over a 
wide territory in Northwest Alabama, especially in the counties 
of Lamar, Marion and Fayette. The iron in the ores of these de- 
posits, as well as that in the red loam or matrix, is believed to be 
from the same source as that in the ores of Russellville Valley. 
These beds seem to be usually surface' accumulations capping the 
highest points of the hills and ridges through this entire section of 
country, though sometimes they appear to form the whole eleva- 
tions from bottom to top. They all contain some good ore, but 
with a few exceptions the outcrops, so far as known, are made up 
of mostly an impure siliceous micaceous compact limonite. They 
have never been dug into but in a few places, hence we cannot say 
for certain what is hid beneath the surface below them. In several 
localities, however, there are extensive beds of these deposits 
known to be rich in the very best of brown ore. The most im- 
portant of these are the deposits near Vernon, Lamar county, 
which supplied the Hale and Murdock blast furnace during the 
war. These deposits seem to form the greater part of two hills of 
about 25 acres each, which contain the ore scattered through a 
deep red soil in irregular lumps from the size of a pea to boulders 
several feeWn diameter. In between the pockets of good ore 
there are patches of iron conglomerate and ferruginous sandstone. 
The ore is mainly porous with red and yellow ochre filling the 
cavities ; it is said to work easy and to make a very superior qual- 
ity of iron. This abundant ore occurs also in quantity in many 
places in the State south of the Mountain Region. 

(3) Carbonate of Iron. This is the leading ore of Eng- 
land from which her preponderating production of iron has been 
made. It occurs in our coal fields as black band and clay iron- 
stone. The black-band is a coaly carbonate of iron peculiar to 
the coal measures ; we have it in several seams from one to four 
feet thick. It has been mined a good deal in the Warrior Coal 
Field and found to work very well in the furnaces as a mixture 
with other iron ores. The clay iron stone is an impure carbonate 
of iron occuring in balls, nodules, and kidney-shaped concre- 
tions, disposed in layers and interstratified through the shales of 
our Coal Measures. 

(4) Magnetite or Magnetic Iron Ore. This ore occurs 
in the older or metamorphic rocks of East Alabama. It is said to 
be in considerable quantities in irregular layers and masses. It is 



35 

gray in color and always mixed with more or less foreign matter. 
It is believed to be nearly always titaniferous. 

(5) Pyrites or Pyrite. This ore of iron is distributed 
universally over the State, and in some localities in no little 
quantities. It has never been utilized to any great extent here 
in Alabama, though it is the chief source of the sulphuric acid 
of commerce. This acid is largely used in the arts and in the 
manufacture of fertilizers ; its consumption is said to mark the 
progress of civilization. The most frequent and largest deposits 
of this ore are found in our black shale (Devonian) and older 
rocks. 

LIMESTONES. 

We have in all the principal valleys of the Mountain Re- 
gion, in the greatest abundance, the best of limestone for flux, 
quick lime and building purposes. Some of these limestones 
likely would make also good hydraulic cement and lithographic 
stones. Dolomitic limestone, which makes the whitest of quick 
lime and the best and hardest of mortars, abounds also in many 
of our true limestone formations. 

Marble is nothing more thana durable limestone. It is found 
in all our limestone regions of various grades and shades of color. 
Those of the metamorphic region, white, gray, cloudy, and varie- 
gated in. color, are quite extensive in quantity, and are the finest 
and most durable. 

Gold. We have in East Alabama the most southern regu- 
lar gold formation of the Atlantic States. These gold rocks were 
once quite famous for their extent and richness. They were 
worked then in a rough way and are said to have yielded consid- 
erable fortunes. The mines have been abandoned, but, by the 
use of the present improved appliances for mining, crushing and 
reducing the ores, they might be made to pay again. Fine or 
washed gold also occurs disseminated, in small quantities, through 
the sands and rounded flint pebbles of our drift. 

Copper, principally as chalcopyrite or copper pyrites has 
been mined to a considerable extent in East Alabama. 

Lead, as galena, is found in small quantities in several parts 
of theS tate ; it has usually associated with it a little zinc as blende. 

Manganese, as black oxide, is frequently met with in our 
older fossiliferous rocks associated with limonite. Heavy Spar 
or Sulphate of Baryta, used in the adulteration of white 



37 

paint, is frequently seen along our anticlinal valleys. Nitee is one 
of the main constituents of the earthy deposits in the numerous 
caves of the sub-carboniferous limestone of North Alabama. 
These caves were thoroughly ransacked during the war and the 
most accessible earthy deposits were partly raised and leached. 
Coppeeas, Alum, and Epsom Salts are efflorescences and in- 
crustations on our Devonian and Carboniferous shales, especially 
in sheltered places such as 7'ock houses and eaves. 

Coeundum, Asbestos, Mica, and Geaphite, are met with 
in larger or smaller quantities, in our older rocks. Jaspee, 
Agate, Chalcedony, Hornstone and Silicified AVood, are common 
among the cherty pebbles of our sub-carboniferous rocks and of 
our drift. Grindstones and Millstones, of good coarse grit, abound 
with us, especially in our coal measures. Red and Yellow Ochres 
and Mineral Paint, good for out-door work, in deposits of some 
size, are not unfrequent, especially in our drift and Lower Silu- 
rian rocks. Fire Clays and Sands of the very best quality for 
the manufacture of porcelain and glass, occur in considerable 
quantities in several of our formations. The Under Clay to most 
of our workable coal seams makes excellent earthernware. 

Building Stones. Our demand for durable and beautiful 
building stones keeps step with our advancement in wealth and 
civilization, and though we are growing rapidly in both of these 
respects, we have enough of these rocks to satisfy the tastes of 
the most fastidious for a long time to come. With all of our fine 
building limestones and sandstones, it seems almost superfluous 
to speak of our other building stones. We have, however, Gran- 
ite, which is regarded as the most valuable of all materials for 
architectural purposes, in considerable quantities in East Ala- 
bama, and we have in all parts of our Mountain Region, but es- 
pecially in our drift, the best of Clays for the manufacture of the 
most durable and beautiful bricks, Soapstones, Gneisses, and 
roofing Slate, valuable for many purposes, are also found here in 
our metamorphic rocks. 

Flagging and Paving Stones. Throughout our great 
coal fields we have in the greatest abundance flagstones of every 
degree of thickness from 2 to 18 inches, with bedding planes as 
smooth as a floor, and also innumerable beds of massive gray 
sandstones which split with ease and regularity in thin tough 
sheets. The yellow sandstones near our great deposits of fossil- 



39 

iferous iron ore besides furnishing one of the best materials for 
building purposes, answers also all the requirements for excel- 
lent flagging stones. 

Road Materials, far superior to cracked-up limestones, 
sandstones, etc., for road materials, are our rounded chert and 
flint pebbles of the western part of the Mountain Region. These 
materials are in inexhaustible quantities in all degrees of fineness 
from sand to pebbles the size of one's fist, and are not only more 
durable than the broken stones of our macadamized roads, but, 
being water worn or rounded, are much less injurious to horses 
and carriages and do not give off any disagreeable impalpable 
dust. 

Petroleum. A tarry petroleum, in limited quantities, so 
far as known, is one of the interesting natural products of our 
carboniferous and sub-carboniferous rocks. It oozes out from 
cracks in bituminous sandstones and limestones, and in the lime- 
stones it sometimes fills small cavities lined with calcite. Our 
black shale of the Devonian age, is also more or less rich in this 
crude petroleum and might be made to yield, as in other coun- 
tries, illuminating, lubricating and other oils. There have never 
been any borings, of any consequence, for oil in Alabama, hence 
it is, as yet, terra incognita, in this respect. 

Mineral Springs. No Alabamian need ever leave his 
State to go to the springs, for from the purest to the most saline, 
they are dotted all over our Mountain Region. The most com- 
mon among them are our sulphur, chalybeate and alum springs, 
and of the most rare are our tar springs, which exude liquid 
bitumen, or mineral tar. 

Lumbering, has been, and is, and will be for many years to 
come, one of the most important industries of the Mountain Re- 
gion of Alabama. This region has forests of long leaf pine, miles 
square, which will yield from 18,000 to 20,000 feet of good mer- 
chantable lumber to the acre. It has also in its large growth, a 
great abundance of almost every kind of tree, of any economical 
value, among which there might be especially mentioned, on ac- 
count of their quantity and size, the oak, gum, cypress and beech. 
The Alabama lumberman and cooper need not have any fears of 
want of material for a long time to come. 

Manufacturing and Milling. There is no doubt but 
that those countries which have the best natural advantages will 



41 

be the greatest centers of all mechanical industries, and such being 
the case, we predict for our Mountain Region, a great manufactur- 
ing future. The streams over the greater part of this region be- 
ing fed mainly by bold perpetual springs, are almost as full in 
the summer as in the winter, and it is no uncommon thing to see 
them precipitating themselves over perpendicular bluffs from 5 
to 30 feet high, affording grand sights for the eye and magnificent 
sites for the erection of machinery of from 50 to 100 horse power. 
In some parts of this uegion, it is especially so in the northern 
and western parts, it would be difficult to conceive of streams 
better suited for the erection of mills, etc., for they have rock 
bottoms and sides, great tall, and an abundance of water the 
year round. Thus possessing the cheap power of both water and 
steam, and being surrounded by all the raw materials, it takes 
no far-sightedness to see this section dotted all over with indus- 
tries of coal, iron, cotton, wood, stone, pottery, glass, etc., etc. 

Agriculture. Every interest is undoubtedly more or less 
dependent upon agriculture for a support, and ebbs and flows 
with the agricultural tide. As the soil over the greater part of 
our Mountain, Manufacturing and Mineral Region is poor, it is, 
therefore, a most fortunate circumstance, a God's blessing, that 
there are such productive agricultural areas on the north and 
south as the Tennessee Valley and Black Belt, which should, 
and could, always supply meat and bread for the intermediate 
great manufacturing section. 

It seems to us that Nature, in her great combination of fa- 
vorable circumstances, has left nothing out to prevent this Moun- 
tain Region of Alabama from becoming one of the greatest coal 
and iron producing, and manufacturing districts on the Western 
Continent. 



Chapter hi. 



ALABAMA MINERAL LANDS. 



ANALYSIS OF ORES, COAL, COKE AND LIME. 

The Government owns now in this State about 1,000,000 
acres of lands denominated Mineral Lands, of which Birmingham 
may be considered a central point. 

The University of Alabama owns 46,000 acres of Mineral 
Lands lying in Jefferson, Walker, Fayette, Tuscaloosa, Shelby 
and Bibb counties. 

The railroads, crossing at Birmingham, own large bodies of 
Mineral Lands adjacent to their respective lines. 

No special geological surveys have been made, but the reader 
cannot fail to arrive at an approximately correct idea of the char- 
acter of these lands by studying the general descriptions of the 
section of territory which embraces them, as given by the State 
Geologist^ and the Assistant State Geologist, in the two preceding 
chapters. 

It is not true, at least at this date, that the furnace men al- 
ready in business here, and speculators, have monopolized the 
Mineral Lands of Alabama. 

When the railroad, by air line, shall have been completed 
from Memphis to Birmingham, and the road from Sheffield to 
Birmingham, and the road from Tuscaloosa to tap the Memphis 
and Birmingham also shall have been completed, greater explo- 
rations will follow increased facilities of transportation, and mines 
will be multiplied, both of coal and ores. All of these roads are 
partially constructed and will be completed. Two of them are 
now being pushed forward. 

The daily newspapers, and the industrial press of the city 



44 

abound with advertisements of mineral lands for sale by private 
parties, and aggregating hundreds of thousands of acres, at mod- 
erate prices. 

The following letter was prepared for this volume by re- 
quest. Its author is well known in Alabama as a successful cot- 
ton planter, with large possessions in that line, as a promoter ot 
railroads, and a pioneer investor in the mineral development of 

the State. 

Birmingham, Ala., March 5, 1886. 

To the Editor: In 1873 I gave the fossiliferous red ores (iron) on Red 
Mountain in the vicinage of this city a painstaking examination. To my aston- 
ishment I made the discovery that this mountain of ore is composed of many 
differing grades and classifications. I carefully cut through seven different an- 
alyses of ore, which I now describe: The first, or top quality of ore is seven feet 
three inches thick ; the second, is eight feet thick ; the third, three feet one and a 
half inches; fourth, one foot three inches; fifth, one foot two and a half inches; 
sixth, eleven feet, and seventh one foot three inches. 

These deposits are separated from each other by strata of slate from } to 2 
inches thick. 

Beneath these seven ore deposits -is a bed of limestone. Between the fos- 
silliferous ore and the limestone is yet another large vein of calcareous red iron 
ore, unknown to me when some thirteen years ago my examination was made. 
This nether ore is exposed in the cut in the mountain where Canoe creek passes 
through it near Springville. 

Before making these explorations in the Red Mountain, I had spent several 
months examining the Cahaba Coal Fields. There I found thirteen separate 
workable seams, measuring from 3J to 5 feet in thickness each. I took samples 
from seven of the number. In taking the samples I cut through from the roof 
to the floor. 

I append an anylsis each of iron ores, limestone and coal, above described. 
Respectfully, Geo. N. Gilmer. 



ANALYSIS OF IRON ORE FROM RED MOUNTAN MADE BY OTTO 
WUTH, PITTSBURG, PA., DECEMBER 23d, 1873. 



Thickness in feet and inches 


No. 1 

7.3. 
16.. 31. 

3.74 
78.55. 

0.68. 

0.21. 

0.49. 
Trace 
54.98. 


2 
8. 

31.62 
4.14 

62.45 
1.03 
0.36 
0.42 

Trace 

45.71 


3 

:U 
32.04 

5.13 
59.97 
Trace 


4 

1.3 
31.13 

4.46 
60.51 
Tacer 


5 

1.2* 

31.16 

4.60 
59.87 


6 

11. 

31.91 

4.05 

60.32 


7 
1.3 

16.22 
2.01 

66.80 
















0.45 


0.45 


0.43 


0.45 


0.38 




41.98 


42.36 


41.91 


42.22 


46.79 



*No. 1 is the top No 7 the bottom. 



45 



Analysis of Limestone Underlying the Red Mountain Iron Ore Made 
by Otto Wuth, Pittsburg, Pa., December 23, 1873. 





0.11 
0.07 
2.18 
0.21 
0.12 
90 60 
6.74 
0.016 

















































































































Analysis op Coals from the Cahaba Fields in Shelby County, Alabama, 
Made by Otto Wuth, Pittsburg, Pa., December 23, 1873. 



Thickness in feet and inches 

Water , 

Bitumen 

Fixed Carbon 

Ash 

Sul phur 



No. 1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


4.6 


4.7 


2.8 


4. 


2.6 


6. 


0.28 


0.30 


0.18 


0.19 


0.21 


0.17 


32.53 


81.86 


32.69 


31.49 


33.29 


25.99 


61.26 


65.45 


63.40 


60.60 


68.10 


70.10 


5.85 


2.81 


3.52 


7.56 


2.34 


3.68 


0.13 


0.OS 


0.21 


0.18 


0.07 


0.08 



7 
3.2 
0.42 
31.99 
63.99 
3.89 
0.53 



ALICE FURNACE COMPANY RED MOUNTAIN ORE. 
Analyzed by Alfred F. Brainerd, Analytical Chemist, Birmingham, Ala., '86 





73.930 
19.680 
2.710 
0.523 
0.192 
0.371 
0.028 
0.390 
1.438 




























Alumina 














Lime 














Sulphuric Anhydride 






































Manganese Oxide 












































100.00 

51.5 
0.162 
0.011 
.025 





































































SLOSS FURNACE COMPANY, RED MOUNTAIN ORE. 
Analyzed by Alfred F. Brainerd, Analytical Chemist, Birmingham, Ala- 





90.271 
6.380 
2.460 
.070 
.080 
.220 
.230 
.090 

Trace 
.199 




















































































Phosphoric Anhydride 




































































100.00 
63.190 

.040 











































46 



COKE MADE BY SLOSS FURNACE CO., OF PRATT MINE COAL. 
Analyzed by Alfred F. Brainerd, Analytical Chemist, Birmingham, Ala-, '86 




Fixed Carbon 

Asli 

Volatile 



Oxide Iron.. 

Alumina 

Silica 

Phosphorus. 

Sulphur 



1.152 

3.510 

3.370 

.032 

.858 



LIMESTONE USED BY THE SLOSS FURNACE COMPANY. 
Analyzed by Alfred F. Brainerd, Analytical Chemist, Birmingham, Ala-, '86 





96.500 
1.525 
1.675 
0.016 
0.300 

Trace 














Magnecium Carbonate 




















































































100.17'-' 





Birmingham, Alabama, 

THE MAGIC CITY. 



A History of Its Rise and Progress, 

Its Present Conditioq and Future Prospects, 

Statistics of Its Coal aqd Iron Iqdustries, Its Climate, 

Sanitary Character aqd Government, Its Free 

Schools and CrjurcFjes, Etc., Etc, 





Q-^IjIDAA 




C^-IjD'WEIjI-i hotel 



Chapter IV, 



CAUSE AND EFFECT. 




IRMINGHAM will become the 
workshop of the great territory 
bounded by the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi rivers, the Atlantic ocean 
and the Gulf of Mexico. 

The industries developed by 
Coal and Iron are the richest in 
the world, and the localities in 
which those industries are main- 
tained in greatest prosperity are 
fixed by order of nature. The 
coal and iron industries of Pittsburgh, Pa., have infused through- 
out that State the spirit of enterprise, which is discovered in the 
growth of hundreds of villages and towns, supporting a wide net 
work of supplemental and subsidiary manufactures of iron in 
innumerable forms, of textile goods, of pottery, vehicles, glass, 
furniture, farm implements, etc. In addition to the increased 
employment of capital and labor in manufactures, whose origin 
is mainly attributable to the iron and coal industries of Pitts- 
burgh, the State under the same influence is traversed by numer- 
ous and prosperous lines of railroad, representing an immense 
amount of fixed capital, and of wages expended in their construc- 
tion and rolling stock. 

The agriculture of the State is second in prosperity to none 
elsewhere pursued, and the safety of investments in agricultural 
lands is one of the radii of influences emanating from Pittsburgh. 



51 

In Illinois the percentage of farms on long or short lease is 
shown by the national census to be one in three of the whole 
number of farms. The percentage in Pennsylvania is only one 
in five ; thus indicating the superior general prosperity in the ex- 
ample of the greater iron manufacturing State. Illinois with a 
population of 8,007,871 contains near 85,000 tenant farmers ; 
Pennsylvania with 4,282,891 population contains only 45,000 
tenant farmers, the others being proprietors. The iron and steel 
manufactures of Illinois arc but $20,545,289, that is, about $6.70 
per capita of population. The iron and steel manufactures of 
Pennsylvania are $145,576,268, that is, about $46.50 per capita 
of population. The value of improved farms in Illinois is less 
than $40 per acre ; the value of improved farm lands in Penn- 
sylvania is over $75 per acre the average. 

But iron ores used in Pittsburgh are transported over ex- 
pensive lines from Michigan and from Lake Superior in large 
and increasing proportions ; while blast furnaces in St. Louis and 
Ohio transport their coke from Pittsburgh, and all transport their 
lime for fluxing over long distances. 

We shall see in the progress of these pages that all the basic 
elements of iron manufacture lie side by side in the Birmingham 
district ; and that the coking property of the coal is excellent ; 
and that the merchantable standard of the pig iron is very high. 
We shall see that an abundance of labor is accessible to the 
widest demand of the manufactures now here, or which may 
come to this field ; and that the cost of manufacturing pig iron is 
here cheaper than elsewhere in America, because here all the fac- 
tors which enter the industry are cheaper than elsewhere. Frosts 
nor floods never here for a moment of time check mining, manu- 
facturing, or transportation. Hence the entire capital directly or 
indirectly employed can encounter no natural difficulties or 
drawbacks. The geographical isolation of the output of the fur- 
naces and the coal pits, from existing centres of trade, is being 
gradually reduced 

coat, is POWER. 
There is a rectangle of Scottish territory to which Ayr, 
Dunbar, Dundee and Toward-point may be assigned as the 
angles. It embraces about 5,000,000 of acres, or one-fourth the 
area of the kingdom. Within this division lies nearly the whole 
of , the coal seams. Within the same lines live 1,500,000 people 




w 



Pn 



pq 



53 

— nearly one-half of the Scottish national population. Here are 
manufactured annually 1,000,000 tons of pig iron. The world- 
renowned Clyde ship yards here employ 50,000 men, and have 
ordinarily in their docks ships of iron and ships of wood worth, 
with their engines and machinery, $40,000,000. 

The manufacture of textile goods is carried on to a greater 
extent in the coal area of Scotland than in all the other parts of 
the kingdom combined; here sugar is refined in great quantities, 
carpets, hats and shoes manufactured ; here the great Universities 
of Glasgow and Edinburgh and innumerable schools of art and 
science nourish. 

Coal fuel stands as the foundation of the manufacturing cap- 
ital of this era, and machinery impersonates its labor. The im- 
mensitv of the physical and moral development of nature 
achieved by them, in co-operation, in the brief period of the life 
of one generation may be explained in the following examples: 
The first test of steam as a motor on deep water was made by the 
little steamer Comet launched on the Clyde, and measuring 40 
feet long, 10 feet breadth, propelled by a three-horse power en- 
gine. The latest of the great ocean steamers launched from the 
same docks is of iron converted by coal, and measures 530 feet 
long, propelled by 13,000 horse power engines. 

The influence of coal mines on the concentration of popu- 
lation is illustrated in the Nottingham fields. Leeds contains 
320,000 people, Bradfield, only eleven miles distant contains 
183,000, Birmingham 400,000, Sheffield 250,000, and Manches- 
ter 600,000. 

The use of coal inaugurated the industrial revolution which 
has gone hand in hand with the advance of all known science, 
and with all discoveries of new principles in society and govern- 
ment. 

Coal is the foundation of the 

FACTORY SYSTEM. 

This is the term applied to the co-operation of organized 
labor and organized capital under one direction. In the manu- 
facturing centre of England was the little town of Burnley. 
Here lived Hargreaves, the carpenter, who invented the spinning 
jenny. Coal-made steam applied to this machine, and the pow- 
er loom, which succeeded it, was the initial step in the organiza- 
tion of capital into great manufacturing enterprises. Organized 



55 

capital engaged in practical industries of all descriptions has per- 
sistently followed the methods first denominated the "factory 
system." In 1810, which dates about the birth of the system, 
England contained about twelve towns of 30,000 inhabitants. 
Fifty years later when machinery, brought into use there, was 
supposed to possess a power equal to the labor of 300, 000, 000 of 
men, England then numbered in her bounds thirty-one cities of 
30,000 inhabitants — an increase of nearly 300 per cent. In- 
creased values in lands, increase of productiveness in acres, im- 
provement in the quality of all kinds of farm live stock, im- 
proved farm implements and machinery to lighten labor are co- 
eval with the growth of that system. Under it the ramification 
of labor reaches all degrees and conditions of life. Labor has 
thus become so diversified and distributed that childhood and 
old age are included in its economies; man and woman, the 
skilled and the unskilled are assigned as factors in its order of 
development. The increase of vegetable and animal produce 
consumed by the manufacturer is the stay of the farmer ; the in- 
crease in quantity and quality of apparel consumed by all classes 
is the source of oocupation to the manufacturers ; the betterment 
of abodes of the laborers prolongs life and promotes happiness 
and personal virtue ; the widened scholastic education, provided by 
the State for the laboring classes, lessens the line of demarkatio n 
between laborers and capitalists, as individuals. These are all 
perceptible effects of the operation of the factory system. That 
they are eminently democratic is self-evident. Individual 
wrongs and sufferings will remain absolute or comparative. But 
political freedom has come with prosperity, and the ballot-box 
will preserve to both capital and labor approximately equal op- 
portunities. The law of society can go no further than the rec- 
ognition of these accomplished facts. 

Birmingham is destined to be a distinguished illustration of 
the co-operative power of capital and labor, and of its benificcnt 
results, expanding hence into every part of Alabama. 

ITS SOUTHERN CHARACTER. 

First came to the valley where Birmingham sits the most 
potential of all combinations of capital and labor, the railroad. 
It had been predicted that the sons and daughters of the South 
had been enervated by the civilization of the past. It was fore- 
told that when the period of transition should arrive, which 




- 



57 

must pass the South from the old, over to the new field of action 
and era of thought, that the old masters of the slaves would let 
slip so great opportunities as had, through all ages, lay hidden in 
these mountains to await the coming of this day. 

The Birmingham of to-day is the exultant refutation of that 
gratuitous slander. Fifteen years ago there was no mark on the 
map of Alabama pointing to Birmingham. Now many thousand 
dollars per day come here to buy pig iron only ; $1 75,000 per 
month is paid to labor by infantile industries only ; stoves, pip- 
ing, steam engines, foundry outfits, furnace plants, etc., are 
shipped hence a thousand miles ; chain factories and iron bridge 
factories, flour mills and furniture factories, cotton press factories 
and cotton gin factories are springing up. From the peaks over- 
hanging this vallev the philosophic enquirer may observe hurrying 
throngs of working men grading and paving wide streets con- 
stantly encroaching on the surrounding farms; and along their 
lines mechanics build one after another great temples of trade, 
halls of education, church spires, which kiss the clouds, beauti- 
ful homes, and ever leave the end of one day overhung with the 
unfinished work for the next. 

ORKIIN OF THE CITY. 

Two pioneer lines of railroad crossing on the site of Bir- 
mingham were projected and built as the result of a public con- 
vention assembled about the year 1854 at Elyton, then the capi- 
tal village of Jefferson county, now two miles west of the centre 
of Birmingham. So wide spread, at that time, had become ru- 
mors of rocks covering the neighboring mountain sides red with 
hematite, and the coal which the country people would gather 
like stones from the surface of the earth, that announcement of 
a forthcoming meeting, summoned to collect information con- 
cerning these reports, was well received. Travel to Elyton from 
the great cotton growing region, where the wealth of the State 
then centered, was difficult and laborious. Nevertheless the 
meeting was well attended by capitalists, and by ambitious poli- 
ticians as well, from all parts of the State. 

This notable event was conceived, or at least greatly pro- 
moted, by the spirited and sagacious citizens of Jefferson county. 



59 



COL. W. S. ERNEST. 



The whole county of Jefferson was duly reminded of the 
coming occasion, and warned of its duty. Everybody listened 
and took counsel. Therefore, when convention day came, and 
the people with it, an immense barbecue was found prepared un- 
der the great old oaks of Ely ton. The logic of the post pran- 
dial orators took growth with marvellous rapidity and vigor. Can- 
vassers for subscriptions began to scour the country. The 
speeches of the convention were yet fresh in their memories. 
The power of the railroad, if applied to the wealth in coal and 
iron in Jefferson county, would, they said, to the listening fire- 
side far and near, cause the hill land to become immensely valu- 
able, the valley to become a fortune on the hands of its owners, 
and would certainly build up a mighty city in Jones' valley. 
But neither Col. Ernest, nor any of his coadjutors in the rail- 
road scheme, had gone so far as to predict even the location of 
the city which was to be. 

Professor Garland then of the University of Alabama, now 
Chancellor of Vanderbilt University, was made president of 
the railroad, called, in its inception, the Northeast and Southwest 
Road. A good deal of grading had been done on the line when 
the war began, in 1861. This work was prosecuted by farmers 
who would take small contracts to be put through by their field 
hands at seasons when the crops allowed. Labor was property 
then, high priced and hard to command for such work. 

J. C. STANTON AND JOSIAH MORRIS. 

Mr. Stanton was a Boston man who became interested in 
the railroad after the war, and gave it great impulse. Mr. Morris 
was before the war, and is now, a private banker of Montgomery. 
It so happened, in the course of business, that Messrs. Stanton 
and Morris acquired the right to determine the crossing place of 
the South and North Road, now a section of the Louisville and 
Nashville system, and the Northeast and Southwest, now the 
Alabama Great Southern, a division of the Queen and Crescent 
system. These two after determining to fix the crossing point 
where it is now, began to enquire for lands, then in farms and 
forests, adjacent. There had been few transfers in time past of 
these lands. The titles were easily proven, the prices were low. 
There were of course invaluable conditions in the project ahead, 



61 

somewhere. About 1866-8 Col. John T. Milner, a man of much 
practical judgment and of untiring faith in the scheme of Messrs. 
Stanton and Morris, together with Major McCalla, both engineers 
one of the S. and N., the other of the Alabama and Chatta- 
nooga Railroad, began to buy land for the projectors of 
the town. Before proceeding far however, the engineers rep- 
resented to their principals, the proposed city founders, that 
there would be a deficiency of water supply on the lands 
they were directed to purchase, being in fact those of the 
present site of the city. They resolved, therefore, to act in 
the two-fold capacity of locators of the line of railroad and 
of the site of the new city, whose prosperity the road was ex- 
pected to promote. They determined to turn the road down 
Possum valley, and run along Village creek to about a point 
where Mr. M. A. May now lives. At, or near, the point where 
the railroad should touch the creek, they proposed to locate the 
site for the city. The work on the original line of railroad was 
suspended and a corps of engineers ordered to survey the Pos- 
sum valley line. The new line had been located by the engin- 
eers' survey, when Mr. Stanton came upon [the scene, and under 
protestations of Messrs. Milner and McCalla, ordered the re-es- 
tablishment of the original line, and directed the purchase of 
the lands to proceed, as originally contemplated. 

The vendors of the lands, knowing beforehand the motive 
of the purchasers, agreed to sell for part money consideration and 
part in the stock of the corporation making the purchase, thus 
demonstrating the early confidence of the resident population 
in the future of the town. 

When the day came on which the transactions were to be 
finally closed, and titles passed to the land purchasers, Mr. Stan- 
ton, the active spirit in the project, failed to respond with his 
quota of ready money to meet the terms. Whereupon it was de- 
cided to drop Mr. Stanton's name and to substitute that of Col. 
James R. Powell in its stead. 

THE ORGANIZATION. 

On January 26, 1871, the incorporators had secured clear 
titles to 4150 acres of land in the vicinage of the present cross- 
ing of the two railroads. They then organized under the name 
and style of the Elyton Land Company, with Col. James R. 
Powell as president. 




< 



PS 



^ 



P5 



tf 



63 

Col. Powell brought with him to the locality Maj. W. P. 
Barker, an accomplished and careful engineer. It was he, who 
under Col. Powell's instruction, laid off the city by exact squares 
as it now stands ; broad streets crossing broader avenues at exact 
angles throughout the entire plan ; and an alley twenty feet wide 
running parallel with every avenue, thus bisecting every square. 
The streets wers designated by number, the avenues in the same 
order, and the alleys likewise. The most perfect street ventila- 
tion had been in the plan thus secured, before houses had been 
built, to endure forever. 

The streets, avenues and alleys and certain blocks intended 
for parks were presented to the city by the Elyton Land Com- 
pany, in perpetuity. The " Railroad Reservation," an endow- 
ment to the city by this corporation, consists of a wide belt of 
land lying on either side of the tracks which divide the city, is 
set aside, in the deed of gift, for railroad purposes only. 

THE CITY CHARTERED. 

In December, 1871, nearly twelve months after the organi- 
zation of the Elyton Land Company, the city received, from 
Alabama, its charter. Every foot of land then laid off, or which 
could thereafter reasonably be included in its lines, had clear and 
undoubted titles resting in the Elyton Land Company. Prudence 
and sagacity and tact had thus far marked the work of the 
founders. Capital and Labor must thenceforward work in har- 
mony together to accomplish the great results opened to their op- 
portunity. How well these two hand-maids of advanced civili- 
zation have fulfilled their duties respectively and conjointly, the 
proportions of this fair city most eloquently attest. 

On the day of incorporation the city numbered some 700 to 
1,000 souls. Among that motley mass gathered from diverse 
places, and assembled here only to work, to speculate and to 
wait, can now be seen daily on the streets, men working, specu- 
lating and yet waiting. Not a few of these who came here to 
sleep under a tent or a shanty, and toil in the day with their own 
hands, own now beautiful homes and are the possessors of real 
estates bringing in handsome rents monthly, and readily convert- 
ible into tens of thousands of dollars at a moment's advertise- 
ment. There is a universal sentiment of supreme confidence in 
the future pervading the population of Birmingham. 



65 

FIRST SALE DAY. 

( )n the first day of June, 1871, midway between the date of 
organization of the Elyton Land Company and the issue of the 
city's charter, that famous corporation begans its first sale of lots. 
The attendance was large beyond expectation. Col. Powell had 
done everything in his power to advertise the event. Address 
and adroitness in such an emergency was a conspicuous feature of 
his .energetic nature. There was a greal rush of purchasers. The 
South and North Railroad, reaching south from Decatur, then 
stood with its southern terminus many miles to the north of Bir- 
mingham. Yet in those days of abundant money, and specula- 
tive tendencies, there were even delicate ladies who, setting out 
from points to the north of this, came on cars as far in this di- 
rection as possible, then taking any kind of conveyance obtaina- 
ble drove over the rocky mountain paths to meet the first sale of 
Birmingham lots. It is related that so many more female visi- 
tors attempted to attend than the adjacent country, or the trans- 
portation lines, could supply with vehicles to proceed on the jour- 
ney, that some of these fair investors actually walked into the 
new town. The Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, embar- 
rassed by litigation and various troubles, was hardly to he counted 
on as a means of travel. An occasional train ran, hut on no ad- 
vertised schedule. Neither (he conductor nor any passenger 
agent on the line could say when another train would pass from 
either direction, whether the next day, the next week, or ever at 
all. While the railroads were thus provokingly inefficient in 
operation, they had naturally driven off the old stage lines which 
had so long and faithfully, under Jemison, Ficklen, Powell <Si 
Co., served the traveling public in all directions from Elyton. 

The first lot hid off was the corner 1st Avenue and 19th 

street. It brought 

ONI', HUNDRED DOLLARS, 

and is 50x100 feet. This lot is yet owned by the original pur- 
chaser, Major A. Marre, a citizen of the town. Probably ten 
dollars per foot surface measure could not buy the land to-day. 
On the opposite corner now stands a splendid brick Opera-house, 
one of the largest and best appointed in the interior cities in 

the Union, owned by one of the early settlers, Mr. Frank I*. 

O'Brien. 




An Old Relic. 



67 

February, 1872, an enumeration of the buildings of the 
town showed 54 brick stores, 125 frame stores, and 250 frame 
dwellings. 

The auspicious circumstances of the birth and life of the 
young city continued until June, 187-'>. At this time 

CHOLERA 

became epidemic. A large proportion of the population then 
here, quickly abandoned their business and fled. None came to 
take their places, stores were closed and their proprietors became 
invisible. 

Following close on the abatement of the terrible epidemic; 
came news of " black Friday" in September of the same year. 
The financial panic; originating under that name in Wall street, 
New York, swept with relentless sway over the entire Union. 
The banks every where practically went out of business. Those 
who had deposits must buy their own funds at a heavy discount, 
and lucky were those who could even on such oppressive t«rms 
regain any part of them. An Alabamian happening in New 
York and having some thousands in hand, was beseiged by rep- 
utable brokers, with tears in their eyes, for the loan of his money 
for a few days, at one per centum per day. 

The young bantling of the Alabama coal and iron district 
felt these shocks in close succession, pined and ceased to grow. 
The speculators' and real estate agents' occupations were gone, 
and besides the hope of these there was nothing to go. 

THE FIRST PULSATIONS OF RETURNING LIFE 

were felt in the winter of 1877-8. Old offices began to re-open, 
strange faces began to appear at irregular intervals on the streets. 
As the autumn opened more came and stayed longer. Limited 
enquiry could be heard for lots, an occasional order went to a 
building contractor. On November, 23rd, 1880, the first furnace 
erected near the town, " Alice No. 1," went into blast. The out- 
put proved to be excellent in quality ; the adjacent coal proved 
to be convertible into the best coke; the limestone, lying in great 
abundance, hard by the ore and the coal, was good flux. Cheap 
iron manufacture became a thoroughly deducible result from 
Birmingham materials, and Birmingham was made secure of a 
destiny. The town bounded forward by leaps ; furnace after 
furnace followed; rolling mills employing hundreds of men were 



69 

established; iron manufactures of various kinds suddenly and 
continuously came forward. One alone now, of several coal 
mines in the vicinity of the town, may put out 2,500 tons daily, 
market the output and leave orders unfilled. Neither the fur- 
naces or the rolling mills can supply their orders, running as 
they do, night and day. Splendid brick structures three and four 
stories high and elaborately ornamented adorn the streets. Four 
handsome brick banking houses are here, one of which is a Sav- 
ing Bank, owned and exclusively operated on a capital paid upof 
$50,000, by a man otherwise a, large property holder, who, 
in laboring here, earned all he possesses. Street cars as hand- 
some as the best seen in New York cross the city at every 
point of the compass. The streets are lighted by gas and elec- 
tricity. A census completed about January 1, 1886, shows a pop- 
ulation of 21,763 within the city bounds, or who, in sight of its 
spires, pass from their suburban homes to the city daily. There 
is a public school system maintained in the city unsurpassed in 
merit. There is a religious tone prevailing which fills every church 
every Sunday to overflowing. 

These facts are only generally descriptive. Good health, 
good order, good morals, are invaluable to a young city, even 
from an advertising view. But the claims on which Birmingham 
builds her sanguine expectations are set forth in the preceding 
chapters of this publication. They show from geological facts, 
incontestable, that no other pari of the United States can rival 
Alabama in the production of cheap iron. The Birmingham 
district is capable of making a greater output of pig iron at 
lower cost of production than any other part of the Union. 
There remains the economic question of 

TltANSPORTATION. 

A glance at the navigable waters of Alabama will discover a re- 
markable commercial incident in the geography of the State. 
There arc sixty-six counties, and more than forty of them are 
touched or bisected, by streams already navigable for great 
distances, and needing only improvements insignificant in cost in 
contemplation of the commerce in easy reach of them, to greatly 
increase their carrying trade. Mobile is the radiating point of 
the natural commercial ways of Alabama. 

In the year 1872 Major Walter McFarland, U. S. A., 
attached to the Engineers, made a survey by order of the Gov- 



71 

eminent, with a view of ascertaining the practicability of a canal 
to connect the Tennessee, near Guntersville, with the Coosa, near 
Gadsden. Nearly twelve months was spent in testing the capacity 
of the feeders to such a water way, and in determining the cost 
of its construction. The report of the Engineer may be found on 
page 520 of the Army Engineer Reports for that year ; and 
it appears entirely within moderate cost to perform the work, 
thus that water connection with the rivers of the entire 
Mississippi River Valley east of the Rocky mountains may be 
had with the mineral wealth of Alabama by a short canal of no 
great engineering difficulties. This circumstance must greatly 
magnify the conditions of commerce in that wealth. The Coosa 
penetrates the coal seams and iron deposits; the Tallapoosa is 
lined on either bank by gold, slate and tin mines, and by the 
finest clay for pottery and fire brick ; the Cahaba cuts its way 
through marble fields of wonderful richness and unequaled va- 
riety, and taps some of the greatest of the coal seams and iron 
ore beds ; the Warrior literally is a stream rushing to the sea 
over a coal bed, and in full view of mountains of red hematite 
iron. 

Water lines, as natural channels of commerce, will inevitably 
rectity any disposition to abuse of power by artificial lines. Nine 
railroads from every point of the compass will soon connect Bir- 
mingham with all the rivers of Alabama, and with the Missis- 
sippi at Memphis by air line, and with the Chattahoochee at Co- 
lumbus, Georgia. In this fact the astonishing position of Bir- 
mingham as a distributive center of trade is made manifest. The 
advantages of a wholesale trade equal to hers are seldom con- 
tained even in the promise. A rich agricultural country sur- 
rounds the city at 100 miles distance ; the valley of the Ten- 
nessee and the whole of the western part of Tennessee along the 
Tennessee river ; the prairies of Mississippi, and the swamps of 
the great river ; the prairies of Alabama, and the timber region 
near 5000 square miles, above Tuscaloosa, are its natural sup- 
port. All of these sections can find no center of trade more 
accessible to them, or where money would be more abund- 
ant than Birmingham. The steady, rapid and perfectly se- 
cure growth of the iron industries and the coal trade here 
will be followed by a banking system as solid as the metal 
which supports it, and thus markets will be steady and 



73 

prices rule low in evidence of mutual confidence of the factors 
in business. Industries covering a territory so vast must be di- 
versified, and in diversity of manufactures required to supply the 
markets will be found the life and vigor of trade. The great 
cotton plantations on all sides, and extending for hundreds of 
miles, will supply in the future as they have done in the past, at a 
days notice, a never failing complement of cheap and desirable 
labor. 

The unequaled mineral wealth of Alabama is the proposi- 
tion ; the immutable and incalculable growth and prosperity of 
Birmingham is the corollary. Each succeeding year of the 
world's growth widens the uses of iron. Iron ships there are for 
the sea, iron roofs to our houses, iron roads for the iron engines 
iron bridges, iron fencing around our fields, iron steps to our 
doors, iron hydrants, iron binding to the very books which des- 
cribe the manifold virtues of the metal. Therefore, he who 
would seek information concerning Birmingham, need not go 
far. The inherent value of iron proven, the answer is plain. 
The "bad years" for iron reported elsewhere have shaken no iron 
industry here for an instant. Here lies the fast maturing center 
of the iron industry of the American continent. 



Chapter V. 



A CORPORATION WITH A SOUL. 

THE ELYTON LAND COMPANY. 

This most influential corporation of Alabama was originally 
organized to build a city, and is therefore older by some months 
than the streets and avenues of Birmingham laid off under its 
auspices. Its nomenclature may be curiously traced through a 
land grant made as far back as 1820. At that date the county of 
Jefferson was organized by the dismemberment of the county of 
Blount. At this time a Federal land agent, Mr. Ely, from Con- 
necticut, on duty in this part of the country, gave Jefferson 
county the quarter section of the land in the midst of which the 
Court House and other public buildings were erected. Hence 
the capital village came to be named in honor of the donor of its 
site, Ely-ton 

The object contemplated by the organization of the new 
company was not consistent with the prospects of continued life 
to the village, only a mile or two distant from the city of the fu- 
ture, and from which the company strangely took its name. The 
Elyton Land Company, however, justly claims urban instincts. 
Certain it is, it claims to be the progenitor of the Magic City, and 
to feel a lofty pride in its offspring. Apart from sensations ot 
satisfaction which are prone to follow the consciousness of faith- 
ful effort, the Company seems ready to meet all congratulations 
with the acknowledgment that, 'there's millions in it,' 

The Elyton Land Company was incorporated under the gen- 
eral laws of Alabama, with a capital stock of $200,000. Mr. 
Josiah Morris, as we have seen, then a private banker of Mont- 
gomery, agreed to advance the money to pay for the lands pur- 
chased by the Company at that date. In fact all the convey- 



77 

ances, transferring the various parcels of land from many origi- 
nal owners, were made first to Mr. Morris. Afterwards the titles 
were conveyed by him to the Company. Thus Mr. Morris at 
one time actually owned the 4,150 acres of land now occupied by 
the city and the suburbs. 

The corporation having organized and received its charter 
from the State, and declared the motive and aim of its life, the next 
step Mas to raise up a man to build a city. 

The Scripture declares that through wisdom is a house 
builded and by understanding is it established. The Company 
sought to apply the force of the proverb to many houses. We will 
see how happily both wisdom and understanding were reached in 
the selection of Col. .lames U. Powell to be the head of the Com- 
pany, and how, on his broad shoulders, securely rested the destiny 
of the city of the Elyton Land Company. 

Many, varied, and unanticipated were the difficulties en- 
countered in the prosecution of the builder's plans. The Com- 
pany had invested every dollar of the proceeds of the sale of its 
capital stock in lands. These lands constituted the sole resources 
of the Company. Besides these it owned literally nothing, and 
in the market value of these lay its whole life and strength. The 
city of the future must stand on these lands, and to exist at all it 
must be largely built up from the proceeds of their sales. But 
in the womb of Time lay Birmingham ; the hand of Destiny was 
to bring it forth. 

To erect buildings on the red hills of an old farm, and to 
bring to them resolute and hopeful inhabitants, was the work be- 
fore Colonel Powell, President. In the execution of this scheme 
began the splendid career of the Elyton Land Company. Founded 
in wisdom and understanding, its labors have fructified into a 
grand realization. A multitude of "houses" have followed in 
their wake. From the North, East, South and West an ever- 
lengthening Hue of commerce centers here, where the Company 
placed its purpose. Railroads from afar off, with great cities as 
the sources, are built, and being built, to this objective point. 
The commerce of the world rises up to demand that water ways 
penetrating from the sea to the foot of the mountains overhang- 
ing Birmingham shall be made open routes to the riches buried 
in their sides. The promise of the State of Alabama lies in the 
building of the city of the Elyton Land Company. From this 




pq 



79 

spot must flow the current of energy to vitalize the State and re- 
hibilitate her glory. 

To build a city became the established policy of the Com- 
pany with its first breath of life. The execution of this policy is 
recited here circumstantially to show the symmetrical form of the 
co-operation of capital and labor developed in the realization of 
the city. 

To every settler who would build a house to live in, or to do 
business in, the Company allowed the price of the lot selected by 
him to be fixed by the purchaser. The immediate operation of 
such a a policy was to dispose of much choice property at insig- 
nificant sums. The treasury of the Company was very slowly re- 
pleted by it until long after the lots had become highly valuable 
to the purchasers. The major part of the original purchasers are 
living, citizens of the city at this day, holding here a store of 
confidence and enterprise which enters its daily growth. 

Funds, however small, did accumulate in the Company's 
treasury, and were speedily returned to the benefit of the city, in 
some form. Among the earliest outlays was the building of the 

EELAY HOUSE, 

a two-story frame hotel, erected on the line of both railroads. 
This building furnished plain but comfortable quarters for the 
visitors constantly coming to explore the opportunities so vigor- 
ously advertised over the world by the schemes of the Company. 
In addition to the cost of the hotel, the company opened and 
drained streets to the expenditure of f 7,000 at this date. 

The city rapidly acquired reputation, houses and population. 
But the prediction of Messrs. Milner and McCalla, Engineers, 
was amply verified, and the supreme metropolitan want — a full 
supply of water — began to press heavily. This was the first per- 
plexing trouble that overtook Birmingham. It aggravated 
the outbreak of cholera and resulted in checking the growth of 
the city. While not a small proportion of the early comers to 
the town were, it must be allowed, small consumers of pure, un- 
mixed water, nevertheless the difficulties of the occasion seemed 
fatal. The city sat in an anticlinal valley over rocks so perpen- 
dicularly stratified, that rain water seemed to go through to China 
without respect to the wells dug from this side of the earth's sur- 
face to find it. The infantile city cried boldly for "water," know- 
ing not how to get it. Of city resources equal to the demand, 



81 

everybody knew the futility of the prospect. The population at 
last could better afford to act on Engineers Milner's and Mc- 
Calla's plan, put their houses on wooden rollers pulled by mules 
and move down to Village Creek, where, some two miles off, 
there was a limitless supply. They would not be taxed to briug 
the creek to their doors, this was certain, though high taxation 
was then a political virtue. 

So at this doubtful period of the career of the Company it 
discovered the necessity of building extensive 

WATER WORKS, 

for the support of its offspring, or, standing idly by, see its own 
impotent efforts fail to save it from a consuming thirst. 

There are doubtless local conditions when large investments 
in city water works are sought by capital. To supply a city of 
10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants with the needed quantity might be 
an example of profitable outlay of cash. But when the question 
presents itself to a struggling corporation and invites the expen- 
diture downright of §100,000, coupled with the other condition 
of a pledge of all its resources as security for the loan of the 
money, in order to supply a town of 1,000 people, living in por- 
table wooden houses, liable to be carted off from the Company's 
hydrants, placed at their doors, at any hour of the day or night, 
it required wisdom and understanding so deep and broad to per- 
suade the Company to build the works that the marvel is the 
town escaped premature death from thirst. 

The policy of the Company prevailed. Nulla vest if/la re- 
trorsum was its Shibboleth. But for years it verily seemed that 
this step of resolve would be its last step forward. 

BANKRUPT. 

Its backbone seemed to have been broken by the burden of 
completed water works. The cost must be met, the depletion of 
the population of the town, (to whose consumption the water was 
to be supplied) by cholera must be borne, and the financial revo- 
lution, not yet spent, of 1873, must be survived. Under these 
fearful burdens the Company struggled along until the spring of 
1875. At this period of its history it had reached the point of 
debility and decay at which its property, if sold at auction for 
cash, would have fallen short of meeting the liabilities. 

Without money and without credit, the Company was at- 
tacked by suits brought before the Courts to recover the $100,- 



83 

000 it had put in the water works. The Secretary's desk was at- 
tached for debt. Adverse judgments, if rendered, in these suits, 
would sweep off the last vestige of its property, and delay indefi- 
nitely the building of the city. 

In this emergency, the stockholders of the Company met to 
consider the dilemma. What could be done'.' To borrow money 
to pay its debts for borrowed money, was impracticable at the 
outset. Destruction seemed to walk rough shod over the morn- 
ing of its prospects. Outside relief being without the question, 
succor must only come from within the organization itself. This 
could not help affairs much, because the stockholders were all 
Southern men in active business and whose securities were fear- 
fully weakened by the pervading financial crisis spreading over 
the whole Union. 

The outcrop of the meeting was, a daring move to rescue the 
Company from impending destruction and extinction. 

A resolution passed which authorized the Company to issue 
its bonds to be secured by first mortgage on its entire property, 
to an amount sufficient to consolidate its entire indebtedness in these 
bonds. Each stockholder then agreed to buy a share of the bonds 
proportionate with the amount of his stock. This resort relieved 
the Company from the suits brought against it in the Courts, and 
prepared it to abide the coming development of the city when 
water might be in demand, and water bills should be paid. 

SIGNS OF LIFE. 

Colonel Powell resigned the Presidency at this juncture 
and Dr. Henry M. Caldwell, then a comparatively young man, a 
native of Alabama, full of energy, self-reliant and cautious, suc- 
ceeded to the administration of the Company's affairs; since 
which day he has acquired the widest practical influence in the 
future of Alabama wielded by any one of her sons, by virtue of 
this office well filled. 

For two or three years after the occurences here recited in 
the history of the Company, it remained in almost a dormant 
condition. Scarcely enough money circulated through its busi- 
ness to meet the interest on its bonds. Its stock was severely let 
alone in the market. The stock could only accomplish a trans- 
fer by the forcing put down on the separate shares of the* more 
timid, or more needy, original holders. Whenever a sporadic 
gale could be effected by this kind of pressure, it was gotten off 



85 

in small amounts at $18 to $17. Twelve hundred and fifty dollars 
invested in it, by a Montgomery purchaser, about this time of de- 
pression, sold in November, 1885, at public outcry at the Court 
House in Birmingham, after spirited bidding, at $7, for one of 
face value. 

Finally, in the winter of 1878-9, Birmingham became thor- 
oughly re-awakened. From the ailments of distressed infancy 
the town suddenly matured the vigor of adolesence. The Com- 
pany found ready sales for its property. By the winter of 1880 
the stock had reached par. Three years later the Company had 
called in and cancelled all of its bonds, and not only so, but at 
the same time paid a dividend of twenty-five per cent, to the 
stockholders. The history of the stock since 1883 has only a 
parallel in the great mining stocks of the West. It went from 
100 to 200 to 300 and 400 and 500, which latter premium it had 
reached by the spring of 1884. Since that date it has been 
wholly retired from the market, merely because those holding it 
refuse to sell. The accidental sale reported above arose from the 
necessity of settling a decedent's large estate among many heirs. 

BUILDING A CITY. 

For thirteen consecutive years the holders of the stock of 
the Elyton Land Company received no returns from their in- 
vestment, but did, as we have seen, carry heavy risks in the face 
of threatened bankruptcy. In this period of suspended anima- 
tion the Company disposed of about one-half of the area of its 
lands in low sales, or free gifts. At no moment in its doubtful 
struggle for existence, did it refuse to sell lots to bona fide set- 
tlers at prices below their market value. It sold all this while 
to professional speculators, also, on terms highly favorable to that 
class of purchasers. When the real estate market had been re- 
stored and private transactions covered large profits, the Com- 
pany entered on advanced rates. 

But the Company's terms and prices have always been more 
favorable to purchasers than the prevailing terms and prices of 
private dealers. 

It has been the settled policy of the Company from its earli- 
est business operations, as openly declared by its President, so to 
conduct its affairs and transactions that every individual who 
may come to Birmingham, to help Birmingham, shall share in 
the profits of the Company. So well has this course been main- 




First Baptist Church, Birmingham, A.la. 



87 

tained that*Dr. Caldwell docs not think that a .single individual 
has thus far ever made a purchase from the Company who has 
failed to realize a profit on his investment, if placed on the market. 
The Company has not only adhered consistently to its orig- 
inal policy in making easy terms and fair prices to those who 
buy from it, hut it has made large and valuable 

D( (NATIONS, 

of lots and privileges to the city, to the churches, and to the gen- 
eral public. These gifts have prevailed early, and late, when- 
ever "wisdom and understanding" suggested them as aids to 
building up the city. When the Company's resources were lim- 
ited to land, then it gave land, since it has grown rich in both 
land and money, it has used both freely in the same cause. The 
aggregate of these gifts amount to 

EIGHT HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS 
present valuation. They consist in land to the county for the 
Court House within the city, to the city public schools, to the 
furnaces and rolling mills, and other industrial enterprises. It 
has spent large sums in grading and draining the streets, in 
building a handsome bridge over the railroad tracks for vehicles 
and footmen, 1,000 feet long, which is a gift to the city. It has 
prepared Lake View Park, a public; resort for the free accommo- 
dation of thousands of people. 

Princely as this sum appears, it omits entirely the gift of the 
whole system of streets, it does not include the Company's ex- 
penditure on the Water Works, nor on the buildings, used in 
part, for its own offices, and in part as one of the principal hotels 
in the city. 

NOT CHARITY. 

The Ely ton Land Company affects only the business mean- 
ing and bearing of its own acts and motives. The Company cast 
corporation bread on the waters, and it has abundantly returned 
in tangible riches. The financial policy of the Company consti- 
tutes the history of Birmingham. Ten years ago the total of its 
assets aggregated an amount below the aggregate of its debts. Its 
stock was not quoted. Nobody would buy it. Ten years later it 
owns probably less than one acre where it originally owned two. 
The land it now owns is worth less than one-third of the whole 
rea, which it owned when the city was founded, is now worth. 



89 

It is now free from debt, and for the last two years the stock- 
holders have received 100 per cent, per annum on their invest- 
ment. The rise in real estate was so decided the latter part of 
1885, and the outlook now so encouraging, that it is more than 
probable that the dividends of the future will surpass those ac- 
crued in the past. 

The property now Owned by the Company is doubtless rated, 
by the test of daily transactions, not far below $5,000,000. 

OFFERS TO INDIVIDUALS. 

The Company proceeds with unflagging energy in the line 
of policy it originally adopted for building a city. Any man with 
requisite capital, character and energy, coming to Birmingham 
to establish any reputable business enterprise, can buy from 
the Elyton Land Company, on easy terms, and long time, a house 
already built for his family, and a lot on which to erect a busi- 
ness stand. He may pay by the week, or by the month, and 
hold the property rent free. 

If enterprises desire to open here whose influences would 
bring additions of desirable population and trade, the Company 
will help all such to raise the necessary funds to begin operations. 

Behind the unparalled resources lying at the gates of Bir- 
mingham, and waiting the energies of all men, stands the im- 
mense wealth of the Elyton Land Company, ready to pledge a 
hearty welcome and generous support to every honest enterprise, 
individual or incorporated. 

Mistakes are not capital offenses in the corporation code. 
The Elyton Land Company does not claim exemption from its 
share of errors in the past. Self-interest in its own case is indis- 
solubly bound to the growth of Birmingham, and to the content- 
ment, prosperity and confidence of every individual man aud wo- 
man within its bounds. Animated with this sentiment, it offers 
to associate its own advantages with those possessed by the gen- 
eral public, and to hold intelligence and labor in perpetually co- 
operative sympathy with its capital. 



Chapter vi, 



ROBERT H. HENLEY. 

We recur to our proposition that the industries developed 
in this region of Alabama have been controlled and directed by 
Southern brains and energy, and Southern money, and that Bir- 
mingham, from its very foundation, has been distinctively a 
Southern town. A pleasing and conspicuous illustration of this 
historical incident may be discovered in the sketches this work 
will contain of the lives of the group of men who have been most 
active and influential in making the history of the town and es- 
tablishing it in prosperity. 

First in order of mention conies the brilliant young Ala- 
bamian, the town's 

FIRST MAYOR. 

Robert H. Henley was born in Demopolis, Marengo county, 
Alabama, the center of the wealthiest, most populous and most 
refined community of cotton planters in the whole Southwestern 
territory. He came of a handsome and chivalrous race ; his fa- 
ther was a noted lawyer of his day. A beardless youth, he en- 
tered the Confederate Army. The war ended, he soon thereafter 
married the only child of Major Thomas Peters. A most beau- 
tiful Southern woman, and most accomplished in society, thus be- 
came one of the early settlers of the town. 

Young Henley had settled in Elyton as early as 1869, two 
years before the date of the charter of Birmingham, adopting no 
doubt the faith of Major Peters in the coming event foreshadow- 
owed by the railroad enterprises projected in this section. Reach- 
ing Elyton, he pursued a well cultivated taste for politics, and a 
remarkable facility for discussion, by establishing in that village 



92 

a weekly newspaper, called the Ely ton Sun. The field of politi- 
cal journalism in Alabama was then a most inviting one. The 
very life of the State was held in the clutch of an ignorant, de- 
graded, corrupt and poverty ridden faction of the population, 
sustained in power by the Federal Army. The power of the press 
alone could act the double part of keeping alive the fires of pa- 
triotism in the hearts of the people, and at the same moment per- 




suade them that in this policy of waiting and enduring was their 
only hope. Of representation, either in Congress or in the State 
Legislature, the tax paying part of the community had almost none. 
At this time the cultured and bold Forsyth edited the old Mobile 
Register, the favorite paper of the planters of the black belt. 
McKee, vigorous, original and aggressive, had founded the 
Southern Argus in Selma, and was pushing it into every part of 



93 

the State with surprising success. The Montgomery Advertiser, 
always true and always cautious and influential, went forth un- 
der the editorial control of Robert Tyler. The Elyton Sun 
promptly entered the arena, and in full sympathy with its illus- 
trious co-workers, struck blows heavy, and fast, for Alabama's 
disenthrallment and restoration. 

It will thus be discovered that the first Mayor of the city 
was a progressive man. The leaders of the movement, to make a 
city here, found him with his printing press ahead of them. In 
accordance with the fitness of things he had come with the rail- 
road. His press and his office occupied oue corner of the Ala- 
bama and Chattanooga railroad office, having been moved up 
here from Elyton, on the first signs of the coming city. 

Mr. Henley was appointed to the mayoralty by the Gov- 
ernor of the State, the appointment being made in response to 
the solicitations of the solid men of the town. A commanding 
presence, ready resources, energy and courage, were esteemed by 
them desirable personal qualifications in the chief administrative 
officer of a city then of very mixed population, adventurers of all 
grades largely comprising it. 

Some turbulent folk had heard of the failure of their scheme 
to elect a Mayor, and forthwith called a public meeting to take 
steps to correct the policy of the Governor in filling the office. 
About dark an unfinished building on Second Avenue, between 
Twentieth and Twenty-first streets had been dimly lighted 
/and the gathering began. Conference among the leaders re- 
sulted in the dispatch of a committee of one, or more, to Mr. 
R. H. Pearson, then a young lawyer recently arrived, to in- 
vite him to preside. Upon assuming the Chair, the presiding 
officer asked to be informed respecting the object of the meeting. 
Upon hearing this stated he ruled that the meeting stand ad- 
journed sine die. But in this rebellious crowd were many idlers 
awaiting the expected oratorical efforts and excitements of the oc- 
casion, and were loth to be disappointed. A meeting was called 
for the next night. A prolonged discussion then followed and 
served as a safety valve to the temper of the audience. The 
meeting broke up, having accomplished nothing, and thus inglo- 
riously dissolved the first organized demonstration against law 
and order in Birmingham. 



94 

The protest of his fellow-citizens of the night meeting failed 
to disturb the young Mayor's theories of government. These 
were chiefly confined to the "general welfare" provision of the 
law. Circumstances seemed to require him to respect preponder- 
ating conditions new to Alabama civil administration, and thus, 
in the light of these, he ordered his conduct. He performed per- 
sonally, as exigencies arose, the duties of Chief of Police, Judge 
and City Council. If the law of the books failed to suit the con- 
ditions of Birmingham, local executive authority made the law, 
and confirmed it as Birmingham's necessities suggested. 

Mr. Henley maintained his office for a year. Continued ill- 
health induced him to resign before his term had expired. His 
faith in the future of the town rose to enthusiasm. "Let my only 
epitaph be, 'Here lies the first Mayor of Birmingham,' " was his 
exclamation to his Demopolis friends. By faith in the future and 
by efficiency of personal and official services he so impressed him- 
self on the earliest history of the town as to have connected his 
name inseparably with it in the light of a commanding influence. 

Dying of consumption after lingering suffering, in Savannah 
Georgia, the body of the first Mayor was brought back to the 
scenes of his faithful labors, and buried in the town cemetery, 
amidst most marked demonstrations of universal public respect. 



Chapter VII. 



JAMES K. POWELL. 

" DUKE OF BIRMINGHAM." 

This remarkable man became the second mayor of Binning;- 
ham. Of imperious will, a commander in bearing, possessing 
wide experience in business and great knowledge of men and 
great powers of application, his assumption of office at this period 
was most opportune. In addition to the authority of mayor, he 
was at the same time president of the Ely ton Land Company, 
the main support of the city. So wide was his influence, and so 
nearly was he in truth the founder of the city, that he readily re- 
ceived the soubriquet of " Duke of Birmingham," and was 
known by this fictitious title, descriptive of a most important 
reality. 

Col. Powell, unlike Mr. Henley, received the mayoralty by 
result of a popular election. The vote stood: „ 

Powell 346 

Ellison 195 

Webb 74 

Tate 43 

A ggregate vote 658 

A Virginian by birth, the future mayor had emigrated to 
Lowndes county, Alabama, coming alone across the country 
mounted on a horse, which constituted all his worldly property. 
The youth, then in his teens, and the State of Alabama then 
taking the first steps to come into the Union, became of incal- 
culable service to each other. Together they increased and 
prospered. It was far from an unknown man who had come in- 
to the mountains in 1870 to found a great city, which should be 
the pivot of the future fame of Alabama. He had been law- 



96 

maker and always the friend of the State. He had organized 
and directed great industrial schemes contributing to its growth. 
He had long waged "a war of giants " with Robert Jemison, 
Esquire, a wealthy and cultivated gentleman of Tuscaloosa, in 
the stage line business. After both contestants had become fear- 
fully depleted they consolidated their enterprises, and the famous 
stage monopoly of Jemison, Ficklen, Powell & Co., traversed 




97 

every part of Alabama, until driven out by the iron horse, on the 
iron pathway. 

An incident illustrative of Col. Powell's general character 
occurred, during the war between the States, in Montgomery. 
The Confederate sea-ports had long been closed against com- 
merce ; the hospitals were without ice, and none could be brought 
into the country from any direction. At that period its manu- 
facture by chemical process was unknown. Suddenly in the 
winter of 1863-4 an event occurred almost without precedent- 
The Alabama river was frozen at Montgomery from bank to 
bank. Instantly, Col. Powell, who then lived in the city, re- 
solved to make an ice harvest for the benefit of the army hospi- 
tals. He went out upon the street and soon enlisted every dray 
and available laborer to be had. The several days during which 
the freeze continued found him working heroically, gathering 
and storing the ice from the river. At the end he was offered 
$40,000 for his crop. He gave every pound to the Confederacy 
for the benefit of the army hospitals the ensuing summer in Ala- 
bama and Georgia. 

Coming to Birmingham to assume high trusts, Col. Powell 
at once entered upon their performance with indomitable zeal, 
and the most comprehensive intelligence. He wrote hundreds 
of letters and dispatched circulars in every part of the United 
States, and often to Europe, to entice to Birmingham, the atten- 
tion of the world. He strove in season and out of season with 
tireless energy to attract here capital, labor, newspaper writers 
and all of the varied influences which would augment and ad- 
vertise the town. He talked in the eloquence of an earnest man 
to all who came to see and listen; and he himself went out hence 
into the North and South, and to Europe, to talk to those who 
had not seen, or heard of, Birmingham. 

He told the world that here unequalled stores of coal and 
iron ores and lime, lay touching one another. He pointed to the 
lines of commerce already completed, and of others which when 
completed would give this vast wealth easy access to the sea. 
Gradually he caught the ear of the world. To-day the world 
realizes that half the truth had remained untold even in his elo- 
quent enthusiasm. 

As first president of the Elyton Land Company, Col. Powell 
did iv: ore, perhaps, than any other individual to establish the 



98 

Company in a broad and comprehensive line of policy. He at 
once determined that the city should become the offspring of the 
Company, and that the highest motive of the latter should be to 
foster the growth of the former. Long after evidences of dan- 
ger had taught the Directory to waver, he steadily adhered to 
the original plan, to buy land and enlarge the sphere of the 
( lompany's action. ( )ne of the stockholders openly menanced him 
with an injunction from the courts to stay the mad extravagance 
of land purchases made on the basis of $25, the acre, near the 
city bounds. Ten years later the same land commanded $1,000 
per building lot. 

The visitation of the cholera and the financial crisis of 1873 
overtook the city in Col. Powell's administration. At his [tost 
of duty he remained amidst events destructive of well nigh all 
that had been accomplished, and extinguishing to the prospects 
which had so recently been bright beyond precedent. 

But this pioneer, at least, kept faith firm and courage undaunted, 
lie declared his purpose to enlist the Company of which he was 
I 'resident in the aid of Water Works for the use of the town 
over which he presided. The Company fell into his plans. Pipes 
were run to Village creek, and an abundance of water was se- 
cured just as the population for whose relict the coveted fluid had 
been obtained were abandoning the town which had ceased to 
grow. 

THE ALABAMA PEESS ASSOCIATION 

met in Birmingham in the spring of 1873. Col. Powell was 
elected honarary member, lie used his position adroitly to in- 
fluence the Association, contrary to precedent, to appoint Bir- 
mingham as also the place of meeting for the next year. The 
motion was strenuously resisted, but the strategy of the mover 
prevailed, and his resolution was passed. This point gained, he 
moved that the 

PRESS ASSOCIATION <>F MOW YORK 

should be invited here at the same time. The invitation was 
given and accepted. At that time this action of Col. Powell dis- 
played a masterly intuition. It was then no unusual thing to 
witness the interference of the Federal army with civil adminis- 
tration, and elections at the South. The legislatures of Southern 
States had been dispersed at the point of the bayonet, Alabama 



99 

among them. "What signified this erratic movement of the 
Alabama press inviting to the center of the State the New York 
press, a large proportion of which were avowed abettors of the 
existing policy of the Federal administration '.' 

THE FIEST " BOOM." 

The invited guests came. The happy results of the policy 
which dictated the invitation was revealed to the perception of 
every newspaper reader in Alabama, instantly. Scores of letters 
to the metropolitan press of the State of New York, dated at 
" Birmingham, Alabama," permeated every part of the Union, 
and went to European centers of capital and intelligence. The 
wealth of Alabama in coal and iron had never before been so ad- 
vertised. These letters gave Birmingham its first great " boom." 
The town had not the money to give itself a tithe of the adver- 
tising which the mayor's strategy had obtained for it gratuitously, 
and even gloriously. 

Intelligent observers of events now look back to this occa- 
sion not only as one fraught with the happiest consequences to 
Birmingham, but as one which exercised an important influence 
in the final restoration of civil government to the South. 

Col. Powell donated the entire amount of his salary in the 
mayoralty to the public schools of the city. 

The citizens presented him a testimonial of their respect in 
the form of a pocket knife. It contained many blades and in- 
struments of convenience, and the handle was elaborately orna- 
mented with gold. The cost was $180.00. 




The heroic career of Col. Powell in Birmingham closed 
with 1874, except in the particulars which will follow. He re- 
tired to his large cotton plantation in the Yazoo valley, Mis- 
sissippi. In 1878 he was invited to return to Birmingham to 
stand again for the mayoralty. The vote, which meanwhile had 
accumulated here, Avas stranger to him than he to the vote. He 
was known to it only by tradition. Younger men contested the 
election with him. He was defeated. Unwilling to accept the 



100 

issue as declared by the authorities, he rushed into the courts to 
assert his rights. Defeated even there, he finally disappeared 
from the scene of his greatest services to Alabama, and of his 
most noble ambition ; leaving in the history of the city an ever- 
widening evidence of his good works. 

Col. Powell met his death, a few years after the abandon- 
ment of his Alabama home, in a petty altercation with a youth 
in Mississippi. 



Chapter VIII, 



LABOR. 



The infancy of rapid industrial growth may ordinarily be 
expected to contain various transitory influences flattering to la- 
bor, but unimportant as features of permanent character. It is 
gratifying to report that the relations of labor to capital in the 
manufacturing district of Alabama have thus far produced no or- 
ganized conflict. There are economic conditions peculiar to Ala- 
bama which encourage the belief that this conservative tone will 
be long perpetuated. A manufacturing community, possessed of 
marvellous natural resources, suddenly developed in the center of 
a robust agricultural monopoly, is the social situation at Birming- 
ham. Thousands brought here by farmers and countrymen have 
swelled into millions in orderly process. Laborers coming into 
this field from the neighboring cotton plantations to join the 
army of wage workers, have become, in illustrative instances, 
property holders. A mechanic, for example, bought in 1871, four 
lots, unimproved, for $200. He built thereon some houses of a 
cheap kind, rented them, and on the rents supported his family. 
He sold the same four lots, reserving the right to remove the 
buildings, in April 1886, fifteen years later, for $10,000 cash, and 
sold for less than the market value of his property. 

What are the opportunities open to labor in the iron and 
coal industries of Alabama, and what are the circumstances of 
local nature which invest them with extraordinary promise ? An- 
swer to these inquiries can only be here suggested in general terms. 

Ours is an Industrial Civilization. Physical forces have 
opened in Alabama a broad entrance for the humanities of mod- 
ern labor. The fertility of the fields, the richness of the moun- 
tains, the abundance of the water ways, the equability of the cli- 



103 

mate constitute the meeting ground between labor and capital. 

Geography has been aptly described to be the hand-writing 
of the Creator across the plane of the world. It stands as law to 
divide the earth into nations, with differing tongues, differing 
customs, differing industries and forms of government. It is cu- 
rious to follow the record of this law, throughout the world; and 
to compare its meaning here with its effects elsewhere. 

There are great dividing parallels reaching across the area 
of the Union, but these do not confine within their bounds dis- 
tinct and peculiar climates. They traverse the country from 
North to South and never from East to West, thus including in 
their separate territorial bounds each, all varieties of the national 
climate, and the normal influences of climate over national char- 
acter. The Allegheny Mountains enter New York from Canada 
and terminate in the central counties of Alabama ;the Mississippi 
audits tributaries connect Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Dakota 
with New Orleans; the Rocky Mountains come out from British 
Columbia and pass, into Mexico, through the whole length of the 
Pacific States. Isothermal lines passing over soils capable of re- 
turning wealth for the labor bestowed on them, must inevitably 
locate in each of the areas between these great natural barriers, a 
sympathetic civilization. There are no like barriers crossing from 
East to West, as we seen, hence the ordinary enterprises of an en- 
ergetic race secure unobstructed communication, first from North 
to South, and finally from East to West across mountains and riv- 
ers. Thus the geography of the Union establishes the homoge- 
neity of the population and the sympathy of their customs and in- 
stitutions and political organization. 

There are, in Alabama, mountains of practically inexhausti- 
ble deposits of minerals most profitable to manufactures and com- 
merce. Below these are surrounding plains so fertile, and pre- 
sided over by a climate so equable that the population devoted to 
manufactures and commerce may be fed and clothed after the 
usages of the highest civilization alone from the products of Ala- 
bama farms. Nor is the narrative of this wonderful concentration 
of natural bounties complete until the channels of communication 
between them, placed by nature, have been explained, and their 
influence proven to stand conspicuous in the promise of the fu- 
ture. The map shows several navigable water ways which, pass- 
ing through the mountains, trend through the valleys to meet in 



105 

the Bay of Mobile. The industrial influence of water ways 
through a naturally rich territory is immense. The Erie Canal 
connects Buffalo on Lake Erie with the city of New York. The 
State of New York is traversed by a magnificent mileage of rail- 
road, covering as with a net-work its whole area. Yet while the 
territory reached by the commerce of the Erie Canal is only about 
38 per cent, of the State's territory, 74 per cent, of the population 
lives within it, and 73 per cent, of the manufactories of the State 
are confined along its banks. The canal is now maintained by 
the State without the benefit of tolls, nevertheless the ( 'anal Com- 
missioner, a most reliable and competent officer, estimates great 
indirect benefits in increased values, given to the territory adja- 
cent to it, in towns, villages and farms, subjects of State taxation. 
The boats are said to take $7,000,000 in supplies from the mer- 
chants of the cities along their course, yearly. The heavy freights 
in iron, coal, marble, copper, fire-clay etc., passing out from the 
mountains, and the breadstuffs, live stock, cotton and wool com- 
ing in from the agricultural districts, and the lumber from the 
timber lands, to the manufacturing towns of the mountains, must, 
in Alabama, eventually seek the cheap freight charges of the free 
water ways. Competition in all commodities of commerce is rap- 
idly reducing profits, and, as a consequence, costs of transportation 
are more and more decisive of the course of trade. Labor is in- 
terested to the full extent of the value to capital in every natural 
advantage. 

There are striking evidences of the kindliness of "fellow- 
feeling" in Birmingham between meritorious classes and people. 
The honorable and highly important position of Postmaster of 
the city was conferred by the government on a young man, self- 
made and barely twenty-five years of age, with the warm appro- 
bation of the entire business community, who left the labors of a 
master machinist in one of the iron industries of the town, and 
also the office of Colonel on the select staff of the Governor of 
the State, to accept it. The trusted and worthy President of one 
of the Banks began his career in the city at hard labor, and, by 
economy and wise investments, has risen to his present rank. An 
influential member of the City Council had been for years and is 
now, a train engineer on one of the trunk lines of railroad cross- 
ing here. One of the later Mayors of the city served an appren- 
ticeship at his trade in early life. There are lawyers in practice, 



107 

doctors of medicine, editors of newspapers, teachers of schools 
and clergymen in charge of congregations dependent on fees and 
salaries for support, who receive less, probably, by half, than the 
wages paid by some of the coal mines and iron furnaces to their 
highest grades of employees. 

Should the Government, under the auspices of the forthcom- 
ing national educational system, establish in Birmingham a State 
Manual Labor Training School, both the literary culture and 
the skill in handicraft, taught there, would prepare young me- 
chanics, practical engineers, and others to compete for positions 
of the first influence in general society. The intellectual charac- 
ter of the labor of the times is destined to be amply demon- 
strated by the industries of this city. 

Respecting opportunities for employment open in the city, 
the fact that many new houses are monthly opened as residences 
and as stores and are promptly filled, must indicate a healthy de- 
mand for rent payers who draw incomes. Respecting the cost of 
living, the city is a trade center, constantly increasing its jobbing 
patronage, under lengthening lines of commerce, while there is a 
steady increase of local supplies in garden and dairy products, on 
descending prices. i 

Special inquiry discloses the favorable omen that the good 
wages offered by the manufactures and mines are drawing into 
their employment no inconsiderable number of the native white 
farming population of the adjacent territory. One of the oldest 
of the coal mines, employing several hundred hands, reports its 
labor force divided about equally between whites and blacks, and 
of the former two-thirds are native whites. 

It would appear plain that more than ordinary realizations 
await the labor engaged in all the great divisions of industry to 
be developed in Alabama. It will not become necessary that as 
wealth must accumulate men must decay. There will be no latent 
motives to discover, in our progress, either the approach of the di- 
vine right of the king, or of the natural right of the mob. 

THE NEGRO IN HIS TRUE RELATIONS TO THE NEW SOUTH AS A 

LABORER. 

The problem of freed negro labor, in the future manufactur- 
ing interests of the South, may receive much light from the daily 
experiences of the race in Birmingham. 



109 

The negroes coming here from the cotton plantations, with 
no experience of the habits of town life, enter, as laborers, that 
field opened by the white man, advanced to incredulous achieve- 
ment by white labor, and whose chief factor is complicated and 
costly and elaborate machinery, every principle of whose inven- 
tion and application, originated in the white man's brain for the 
white man's relief. 

Nevertheless, we recur to the facts, and state them impar- 
tially on their merits, which portray, in this town, the most sin- 
gular ethnological problem of the day. 

About 40 per cent, of the total city population of Birming- 
ham is negro. About 90 per cent, of the labor employed by all 
the furnaces, near Birmingham, is negro. The furnace labor and 
the city labor is all free of this kind, except as to individuals, 
few in number, committed to street work from time to time by 
judgments through the Mayor's court. 

Besides the negro furnace labor, much of the labor employed 
by the city manufacturing industries in iron, such as the rolling 
mill, foundries, etc., is negro. Increasing relative employment 
of it is the rule with all the hard labor enterprises. 

The manifest result of the presence of the negro labor here 
is that we have a more intelligent and orderly white laboring 
population, than otherwise might be anticipated. The negro of 
Birmingham fills the industrial position, which elsewhere in great 
manufacturing towns is filled by a low class of whites. The ne- 
gro here is satisfied and c; ^tented ; the low whites elsewhere are 
dissatisfied and turbulent. The white laboring classes here are 
separated from the negroes, working all day side by side with 
them, by an innate consciousness of race superiority. This sen- 
timent dignifies the character of white labor. It excites a senti- 
ment of sympathy and equality on their part with the classes 
above them, and in this way becomes a wholesome social leaven. 
There are no jealousies between whites and blacks. 

Besides the manufacturing element of negro population, al- 
most all the drays here are driven by negroes ; the merchants em- 
ploy them largely as porters . in confidential positions ; the hacks 
are all driven by negroes ; the livery stables employ them ; the 
domestic service of the town is practically monopolized by them. 

Is the negro a good in Birmingham? Not an unmixed good 
as a negro. But if it be true, from an economic stand point, that 



Ill 

the value of a grade of laborers to the general community is to be 
measured by the amount of capital their labor brings into activity, 
by their capacity as consumers, and by their moral character, we 
will see the negro here doing fairly well under the rule which 
tests the value of a laboring class everywhere. 

The houses, of the city, the negroes rent, are of the best class 
erected for laboring people, and they are prompt and reliable 
rent payers. The higher grades of this population furnish their 
houses with carpets, tasteful and ornamental furniture, and their 
diet is abundant and of the best quality. There is an unmistak- 
able disposition on the part of these to buy real estate and build on 
it. Some of them own valuable lots and good houses. One of the 
most tasteful examples of ecclesiastical architecture in the city is a 
negro Baptist brick church ; another is a Methodist brick church 
being built by the negroes from their own resources. They own 
numerous wooden chapels, well kept and well attended. 

It is not to be denied, that the necessary discipline of a man- 
ufacturing community is the explanation of the success of negro 
labor here ; it is not to be denied, that as a laborer, the negro here 
is below the old slave standard of efficiency in his race, and is 
here below the standard of white labor engaged elsewhere in the 
United States in like industries. But every day's work here is 
paid for in cash, and less than a day's work suffers proportionate 
reduction of wages. Every pound of meat and bread he must 
pay for, in cash, who consumes it. Work begins by the clock and 
ends by it. 

The great majority of the prisoners in the county and city 
jails are negroes. The majority of prisoners in all jails in all 
countries of civil law and order, ai-e of the lower classes, whether 
white or colored. The negro is the lower class of our population. 
Therefore, when we appeal to either sanitary or moral statistics 
to show the relation of the negro race to our general society, we 
must be prepared to acknowledge, not only the race, but the class 
attitude he occupies toward it ; and to compare his record with 
the class record of any race in any city charged with the perfor- 
mance of the line of service filled by the negro of Birmingham. 

The county of Madison is one of the largest cotton produ- 
cing counties in Alabama. There the negro is the chief agricul- 
tural laborer, and there he occupies as a tenant of the best agri- 



113 

cultural lands in the State, a controlling influence in politics and 
in trade. 

The report of the Madison County Health Officer for 1875 
is here annexed. It may interest the statistician, but it is vulner- 
able to the criticism of all like reports, and that is, it describes, 
under the specification of color, a class sanitary condition. 

There were 449 births reported, 84 of which were from the 
city, and 345 from the county; 271 were white and 178 were col- 
ored. There were 360 deaths, 135 from the city, and 225 from 
the county; 141 were white, and 219 were colored. 
The total death rate in the county and city included per 

1,000, was * 8.78 

The total death rate, white 6.93 

" " " colored 10.33 

Total death rate in county exclusive of city, per 1,000 6.42 

" " " " " " white 5.54 

" " " " " " colored 7.34 

Total death rate in the city 22.5 

" " " " "white 15.0 

" " " " "colored..... 30.0 

Total birth rate in the county including city 10.97 

Total birth rate in city 14.00 

" " " " white 17.33 

" " " " colored 10.66 

The number of still births in the county, 11; 4 white and 7 

colored. Instrumental deliveries, only 7 reported ; 6 white and 

1 colored. 

Only white men of skill, character and intelligence can com- 
pete with the negro, and competition of this kind being in the 
higher grades of labor, the negroes are naturally kept out, and 
the whites kept in, by it. Thus it is that the town of Birming- 
ham owes its character for good order to the natural relations of the 
races, and their presence here in natural proportions of demand. 
The fact that Southern white men are the prevailing influence must 
be allowed great weight in establishing peaceable relations be- 
tween the races. Southern men are, and ever have been, the best 
friends of the negro. 

The negro can only come into a manufacturing community 
as capital and skilled white labor may call for his services. He 
will grow apace with the customs, industries and morals of the 
community in which he lives, but will never lead in its growth. 
A n a hundred years after Shakespeare and Bacon, the country no- 



115 

bility of England were rude, illiterate and immoral. In that pe- 
riod the shops and houses of the streets of London were unnum- 
bered because the great mass of those who traded, and visited, 
could not read the letters or figures on the doors. 

This page assumes only the duty of stating facts concerning 
an interesting social question, reaching into every relation of 
Southern life, and greatly misunderstood. 



Chapter IX, 



SANITARY. 



BIRMINGHAM is situated in a valley gently undulatory 
and naturally drained. It is bound on the North and the South 
by spurs of the mountain ranges, but the Eastern and Western 
ends of the valley are open. The elevation in this vicinity is 
greater than any point in the surrounding territory. For exam- 
ple, Blount Springs, some fifty miles to the Northeast, is situated 
among the mountains, yet the elevation of this city is greater than 
that of the Springs. It is thus made apparent that drainage is 
entirely practicable for the city. 

The Constitution of Alabama was framed to counteract, in 
matters of taxation, great abuses which had been imposed on city 
property under alien laws. It forbids the amount of taxes suffi- 
cient to improve, rapidly, a growing city. Nevertheless a vast 
amount of drainage, both under the Waring system, and under 
the ordinary surface system, has been done in the city, and is now 
prosecuted daily. 

Dr. Henry J. Winn, Health Officer of the city, reports that, 
in the month of June, 1885, the death rate was only ten in the 
one thousand per annum. June, July and August are known as 
the healthy months here. 

MORTUARY RATE. 

For some years past the death rate has not exceeded sixteen 
in the one thousand per annum. The death rate among the ne- 
groes has been greater than this figure, and the death rate of the 
whites lower. 



119 

The death rate of Manchester, England, is given by Robert P. 
Porter, of the U. S. Census Bureau, at 27 in the 1,000; Sheffield, 
21 ; Leeds, 22 ; Huddersfield, 23. The Boston rate is estimated 
at 23 in the 1,000; San Francisco, 19 ; New Orleans, 24; Atlanta 
19 ; Chicago, 31 ; Selma, Ala., 26 ; Birmingham, Ala., 16. 

The sanitary statistics of Birmingham have had to contend 
with an unacclimated population entering unaccustomed fields of 
labor and increasing some 15,000 in the past five years, and col- 
lected from all climates. 

They have also, as has been stated, been encountered by im- 
perfect drainage and sewerage in the city. The comparative ex- 
hibit as shown above is conclusive evidence of the natural salu- 
brity of the climate. 

There are no malarial swamps within many miles of Bir- 
mingham. Dr. Winn, in referring to local causes of disease, 
says : "Our location is one to which we have only to apply our 
knowledge of the elementary principles of modern sanitation to 
effect a complete avoidance of all local causes of disease, and I 
confidently anticipate the time when our city will become a 
health resort of high repute. Village Creek, from which the 
city water is obtained, has its origin in a number of bold moun- 
tain springs, some six or seven miles to the north of the reser- 
voirs. It is naturally a pure and healthy Mater, containing some 
lime, and possibly a small proportion of magnesia. A Company 
is now organized with a view of adding to the water supply by 
laying pipes to Five Mile Creek. This would insure an abun- 
dant supply of the purest mountain spring water for 100,000 
people." 

On the subject of health organization, the same authority 
says : "The Medical Faculty of Jefferson county is thoroughly 
organized. The County Medical Society is a legal organization, 
under State protection, and is the legal Board of Health of. the 
county. In this county the Society maintains an excellent esprit 
du corps. It holds monthly meetings, and a wide range of cases 
occurring in private practice are discussed orally, and in writing, 
besides the regular order of prearranged business. The system of 
examinations for applicants to the practice is rigid and compre- 
hensive. If the applicant be awarded a certificate from the 
Board of Examiners, it must be registered at the office of the 
Judge of Probate." 



121 

"Reports of the Health Office," Dr. Winn says, "are fre- 
quently made to a committee of physicians, who meet specially to 
examine and discuss them, and at the same time to consider all 
the questions affecting the public health." 

The climate of Birmingham is delightful. No case of sun- 
stroke is on record. The nights are always pleasant after the 
hottest day. Snow is rare in winter, and never covers the ground 
longer than two or three days. Many successive winters pass 
with no snow. Garden vegetables may be grown in mid-winter, 
of certain varieties, and healthful diet is cheap at all seasons. 

The streets and sidewalks of Birmingham are paved to a 
great extent by the crushed slag from the furnaces. When slag 
is exposed to the moisture of the air certain changes take place. 
Mr. Alfred F. Brainerd, Analytical Chemist, resident in Bir- 
mingham, has tested these many times. He pronounces the slag 
pavements promotive of health. Calcium sulphide and water 
produce lime, and sulphuretted hydrogen, the presence of the lat- 
ter being recognized even in the strong sulphurous smell which 
the freshly laid slag emits. 

This slag from the St. Louis furnaces is sold there at good 
prices. The Birmingham furnaces donate to the city all it can 
haul away. Glass is often made, in some places, from it, and it is 
converted also into large blocks, used for building, instead of stone 
or bricks. The city owns a crusher operated by steam, and the 
wagons deposit it on the streets from the crusher at the furnace. 



CHAPTER X, 



THE SUBURBS. 

The men of affairs who permanently reside in Birmingham 
are even now preparing to avail themselves of the rare facilities 
and opportunities afforded by the natural advantages of the 
suburbs of the city for summer resorts. Already lines of street 
railway are being pushed along graded paths into the mountain 
elevations to the North and to the South. Here are to be found 
lovely spots for private residences, only fifteen minutes easy ride 
from the heart of the city. Here far above the smoke and dust 
and din of busy life, an Arcadian quiet awaits the tired merchant. 
Delightful breezes, uncontaminated by foul odors of the streets, 
lure him to domestic repose. A panorama of rare beauty is 
stretched below him ; scenes of activity in the bustling streets ; 
the ceaseless throbbing of the great furnace engines ; the rolling 
of freight cars going out with great loads of iron for the Eastern 
and Western markets, and coming in with the breadstuff-; for the 
bread winners ; the green farms on the border, and the hundreds 
of cattle browzing there, all attest the realizations of labor and 
recall the recluse to consciousness of his own enjoyment of rest 
beyond and above it all. 

There is probably no city in the Union more fortunate in 
the adjacency of varied and attractive scenery, associated with in- 
viting suburban lots for residences, than this one. 

THE PARKS. 

AVONDALE 

Is one and a half miles from the center of the city, reached 
now by a line of street railway running to the gate. It is the 
property of a private corporation, It contains upwards of forty 



125 

acres, divided between valley and mountain ridges of romantic 
aspect. Bold springs shoot out from the mountain sides, and 
hurry their waters over rocky beds into forests and fields in the 
distance. Dense shade covers the mountain side. A lovely 
grove, shaded with great oaks, cleared of undergrowth, is sup- 
plied with many colored seats, and with a spacious stage, and 
music stand, for dancing, where quiet, or hilarity, may be in- 
dulged in harmony with the taste or feelings of the visitors. 
Here on Sundays, or holidays, great numbers of people, well- 
dressed and well-behaved, delight to gather and roam or recline 
in unbroken shades' and cool air. Here moonlight assemblages 
of the young are held and happiness rules the hours. Saturday? 
picnics of happy school children make a spring and summer fea- 
ture of Avondale Park and its privileges. 

LAKE VIEW. 

The Elyton Land Company owns about 1,500 acres of 
wooded land, one and a half miles from the city. Plans are now 
being executed to convert a part of this semi-mountainous area 
into a grand, magnificent public park. Already a street rail- 
way, with steam motors, reaches to its entrance from the cen- 
ter of the city. Already thousands of dollars have been ex- 
pended in reclaiming and exposing the wild forests of Lake 
View. Broad gravel carriage roads begin to wind their 
way, amidst the impending rock-crested hills; rustic seats 
and gaily painted swings cluster along the mountain sides • 
numerous springs gushing forth are trained to form a lake on 
whose bosom gondolas float and white swan swim, in the shade of 
the peaks which overhang it; a club house stands at the head of 
the water where capacious baths and a restaurant with modern 
appointments provide for the convenience of visitors. Along 
the line of irregular hill tops overlooking the park, the Company 
is erecting cottages for the occupancy of inhabitants of the city 
during the summer season. Not one mosquito can live on those 
heights ; evening or morning air must ever be laden with cool- 
ness there ; the man of business can almost look into the door of 
his city office below from his mountain retreat, and, by telephone, 
may whisper to clerks as securely as if on the spot in person. 

Lake View is a happy conception. Here Nature without 
mutilation is beautified. Ever varying landscape pleases the eye, 
and restores vigor to the weary mind. Hundreds of workingmen 



127 

who cannot afford to drive a carriage on holiday even, will find 
in the meandering promenades exposing new and pleasing scenes 
over the hills at every turn, and in free seats of the hillside, a de- 
lightful source of enjoyment and repose. The more fortunate who 
may drive or ride through the valleys and around the mountains 
to their peaks, will often repair to the park for this most exhiler- 
ating exercise and delightful recreation. 




ILj^IKIIE-^IEW 



Chapter XI. 



PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

That the wealth of a State depends upon an alliance of its 
productive and consuming powers is a proposition in practical 
economy that has been long demonstrated by experience. In this 
age of machinery, the skill, rather than the number, of operatives 
is the controlling factor in industrial progress. That which mul- 
tiplies the productive powers of the people in the aggregate will 
conserve the industrial forces of the State, and naturally become 
a legitimate subject for public consideration and public support. 
1'ublic education in this country to-day is maintained not merely 
from motives of political expediency or public duty — it is a prime 
necessity of society. The complex mechanical agencies of our 
commerce, the varied mechanism entering our trades and indus- 
tries, are too powerful and intricate to be manipulated by the un- 
schooled and illiterate masses. These considerations alone, to say 
nothing of the duties of intelligent citizenship, amply justify the 
maintenance of a system of public education in an industrial cen- 
ter like Birmingham, and the flourishing condition of her public 
schools furnishes the most convincing evidence of the fact that 
amidst the din of her commercial activity and the smoke of her 
furnaces and foundries, she has not been unmindful of her duty 
to the next as well as the present generation. She has triumph- 
antly grasped the too oft forgotten truth, that the harmonious de- 
velopments of the head, the heart and the hand secures at once 
the best interest of the industries of the State, and furnishes a 
substantial guaranty of industrial prosperity, of social purity and 
commercial integrity. This truth our young city promptly em- 
bodied in her public school system, as we proceed to prove. 

From the very foundation of the city the people of Birming- 
ham have recognized the fact that the moral and intellectual de- 



130 

velopment of society must keep pace with the industrial develop- 
ment, and that system which supplies moral and mental training 
to the masses, which creates the skill and consequently the wealth 
of a community, must above all others be preserved and encour- 
aged. The public school system of Birmingham has thus been 
founded upon the necessities of the city, and in its present magni- 
tude we see the autograph of popular convictions. 

In September, 1883, the schools were reorganized and placed 
under the charge of Prof. J. H. Phillips, A. M. By the enact- 
ment of a State law the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the city 
were relieved of the management of the schools, and a Board of 
Education created in their stead consisting of the following 
gentlemen: Hon. A. O. Lane, president; J. L. Watkins, vice- 
president ; Samuel Ullman, Alonzo S. Elliott, David D. Smith, 
W. J. Rushton and C. P. Williamson. 

The funds by which the schools are supported are obtained 
from various sources. But by far the greater part are obtained by 
appropriation from the revenue of the city. This sum is supple- 
mented by the amount received from the school fund of the State, 
the city poll tax and a small incidental fee charged each pupil in 
attendance. The direct appropriation made by the city for the 
current scholastic year is $12,200. In addition to this sum the 
city has been authorized to issue bonds to the sum of $20,000. 
This latter amount has already been expended in the purchase of 
school lots, the erection of elegant buildings and the furnishing 
the same with suitable furniture. 

With reference to the general system adopted for the arrange- 
ment of the school buildings we quote Irom Superintendent Phil- 
lips' report for 1883-4: 

"lam thoroughly impressed with the fact that no other institution in our city 
contains so great promise of permanent good to the community as our public 

school system. To realize this promise, our school facilities must be enlarged, 
and better sources of revenue must lie devised to buildup and sustain such a sys- 
tem as the city demands. The public schools of the city, under your wise and 
conservative management, are now thoroughly organized with a system estab- 
lished whose operation needs only to be enlarged and perfected to make our 
schools in standing equal to the best in the State. The buildings erected by tbe 
city from time to time should be constructed and located with reference to a gen. 
eral plan or system adopted by the board. Ibeg to recommend the plan of erect- 
ing eight room buildings to accommodate the Primary and Grammar School 
grades ; these buildings should be distributed around the city, forming the circum- 
ference of a circle. The buildings already erected on the north side of the rail- 
road are suitably located with reference to such a system. To complete the sys- 



331 

tern a 1 1 igh School building should be erected near the center of the city as soon 
as the finances of the city will justify the expenditure. Such a High School 
would be easily accessible to pupils from all parts of the city who shall have com" 
pleted the course prescribed in the Grammar Schools. The general plan here 
outlined is perfectly feasible, and easily adjusted to the growth and demands of 
the city." 

The above recommendations were made a little over a year 
ago, and to-day the plan outlined has been eonsumated in every 
particular. We know of no other city that can record such rapid 
strides in the history of its public school system. We have to-day 
three elegant grammar school buildings and one high school build- 
ing for the use of whites, and two comfortable and well arranged 
buildings for the use of colored pupils. The furniture of these 
buildings is in the latest and most approved style. All the white 
schools are furnished with the elegant "New Paragon" single 
desk, and the colored schools with the Andrews Triumph desk. 
No schools in the South are better equipped in this respect. The 
total value of school buildings and other school property is esti- 
mated at $50,000. 

In order to give the reader an adequate idea of the general 
character of the work and discipline of the schools the Superin- 
tendent's report is again quoted : 

"The teachers arc enjoined to govern their schools with firmness, but to 
avoid, if possible, all harsh means of punishment. Corporal punishment has been 
used only in rare and extreme eases, and then only as a last resort, in reducing 
to submission a class of pupils with whom no milder argument would prevail. 
The teachers are impressed with the idea that teaching is their chief work in 
school, and that government, though absolutely necessary as a means, must 
always lie regarded secondary. "TTiey ijurern best who govern least'' is a prin- 
ciple that may he well illustrated by a successful teacher. If the pupil is fur- 
nished with work, and made to feel pleasure and interest in that work, he will 
have little disposition to do wrong. The child's energies, plrysical, mental and 
moral must lie influenced and directed by the teacher. This cannot be done by 
force; that would lie brutal and irrational. It cannot he done by moral suasion 
alone; that frequently makes the child callous and morally insensible. The 
"minimum of corporal punishment andmaximum of moral suasion" is not a good 
ride to adopt in the school room. The moral suasion of most teachers consists 
in scolding, fault-finding and dry lectures on the ethics of conduct, Sucha course 
soon becomes offensive to the child, fails to secure the co-operation of his will 
and affections and usually hardens him to such an extent as to render all moral 
treatment futile. The minimum of punishment and the minimum of moral sua- 
sion, combined with the maximum of pleasurable work is a better rule, more 
rational in principle and more successful in operation. 

In carrying out the principles of government laid down above, special atten- 
tion has been given during the year to the moral and literary training of the pu- 
pils. In the homes of many children, the advantages for literary culture are very 



132 

meagre. A family bible may occupy the parlor table, but the child is given to 
understand that even that is for ornament and not for use. If any books at all 
are placed within his reach, they are too profound for his perusal, and are cast 
aside. On the other hand, he finds sensational story papers gratuitously scat- 
tered in his way. He is first attracted by the blood curdling illustrations per- 
haps, but soon acquires a taste for the story, and unconsciously imbibes the prin- 
ciples that are to give direction to his youthful energies — he has already learned 
tlie alphabet of crime. 

In the windows of the news dealer, on the counter, often by the side of text 
books and school supplies, he finds this poisonous literature displayed in an al. 
luring manner. Parents and teachers deplore this state of affairs ; churches and 
schools use moral suasion in vain and deprecate the results. But what have they 
done to remedy the evil ? They stand aloof and cry: "Don't touch, don't touch," 
but fail to supply their children with reading matter of an elevated and interest- 
ing character. This, in my judgment, is too important a matter to be overlooked 
in our public schools, and though the work of the past year is hardly more than 
a beginning, yet the results have been exceedingly gratifying. In all of theschools 
of the city much good work has been done in this direction, a work that cannot 
be expressed in words nor estimated in percentages. The celebration of the 
birthday of prominent American authors, together with a systematic study of 
their work has proved an incalculable benefit to the pupils by awakening an in- 
terest in the personality and works of good authors and cultivating a taste for 
substantial literature. In the lower grades the children are treated with stories 
of an interesting character, adapted to their comprehension. In the higher grades 
also the pupils are permitted to read good papers or books in connection with and 
supplementary to the required reading. Each pupil responds to the daily roll call, 
by reciting some literary gem of his own selection. The good effect of this course 
upon the conduct and manners of the pupil is quite apparent. Pockets in which 
dime novels and sensational stories were concealed at the opening of the session 
have given up their contents and now claim a better literature. To enlist the 
sympathies and direct the moral energies of the children, a Band of Mercy has. 
been organized in each grade of the white schools. The Band of Mercy is a new 
order of chivalry, whose leading principles are "protection to the weak" and 
"kindness to all harmless living creatures." The great object of the organization 
is to inculcate the sentiments of kindness and mercy in the hearts of the young 
and thus lay the foundation of character. About one hour each week is devoted 
to this kind of moral and literary training, anil the results have been verygrati" 
fying. By this means good discipline has been greatly facilitated, and teachers 
in some of the grades have been enabled to dispense entirely with corporal pun. 
ishment," 

From reports of 1884—5 : 
"In all elementary schools the staple and substantial studies must ever be 
the ordinary branches of language, mathematics and geography. These are 
after all the keys that must unlock for the child the world of nature and of man, 
and as such must transcend in importance any special forms of mechanical skill. 
But "Education by doing" is the phrase that most aptly characterizes the work 
of our teachers and pupils. Special attention is given in our elementary schools 
to object lessons, map drawing, language analysis by diagramming and industrial 
drawing. The work of our schools in these special. lines during the past year has 
been most gratifying, and the degree of facility and skill acquired by even young 



133 

children seems almost incredible. These features stimulate self activity and in- 
dependence in the pupil, and lead him from the ruts of servile imitation to the 
broad highway of original discovery and invention. 

In the presence of so much crime, lawlessness and cruelty, it behooves our 
schools to give special attention to inculcating lessons of mercy, kindness and 
justice to all creatures, human and dumb; and 1 know of no more effective 
method. of imparting such lessons than the memorizing of gems of poetry and 
choice selections from the best English and American authors, illustrative of the 
feelings and emotions of the child-heart and of the great moral truths underlying 
our human nature. It will be seen that literary training is thus made the basis 
of moral culture. Simultaneously with the taste for the good and beautiful in 
literature we endeavor to cultivate in the child the more exalted sentiments of 
our nature, the love of God, of man and of nature, the elements of that heart 
religion fundamental to all morality and civilization. The 

TRUE MEASURE OF PROGRESS 

in our schools, however, is not to be found in building systems of courses of 
study, but in the operation of silent influences brought to bear upon the pupil by 
the earnest, faithful teacher; the development of latent tastes and powers, and 
the direction of his self-activity for the accomplishment of good; the stimulating 
of his energies to the investigation of nature's hidden treausures and his soul to 
the appreciation of the true, the good and the beautiful in all things.'' 

No further elaboration is necessary to prove that Birming- 
ham's public schools already stand in the front rank of the schools 
of the country. Superintendent Phillips, the fortunate instru- 
ment in the hands of the Board of Education for the establish- 
ment and conduct of the entire system, possesses a tact and ad- 
ministrative ability rarely found in so young a man. He is a 
thorough educator, and is devoted to his profession. A native 
of Kentucky, he came here from one of the Northwestern States 
with a well established reputation, and, entering upon his work 
with the zeal of an enthusiast, he has not only acquired profes- 
sional success, but has secured the personal respect and esteem of 
the whole community by uprightness and courtesy of conduct in 
general society. 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE RAILROADS. 

Up to the year 1871, the Alabama and Chattanooga railroad 
was the only line within reach of the trade of Jefferson county, 
and at that time this, the only road, was badly equipped, was in 
debt, and was equivalent to well nigh nothing as a channel of 
commerce, or for passenger traffic. Now there are three great 
trunk lines crossing each in the heart of Birmingham, and each 
with many trains each day passing on quick schedule time over 
their length. These roads are the South and North, being a sec- 
tion of the Louisville and Nashville system ; the Alabama Great 
Southern, being a section of the Queen and Crescent system, and 
the Georgia Pacific, being a section of the Richmond and Dan- 
ville system. Numerous short branch roads tap the coal mines 
along the route of each. 

The South and North road of itself transports about 1,500,000 
tons of coal per annum. Within a few years great coal depots 
have been established at Montgomery, Mobile, New Orleans, 
Eufaula and Vicksburg. Many inland towns where, before their 
construction,, no coal was consumed, now buy largely of the Ala- 
bama supply furnished by these roads at their doors. Notwith- 
standing the abundance of woodland all along along the line of 
the railroads, the substitution of coal in private and public houses 
for firewood, has been remarkable. Convenience and economy 
are found to be with the coal bought at the mines, as against the 
wood cutting and wood hauling in a territory where labor for 
heavy work is scarce. 

The expenses of construction lying against all the roads cross- 
ing at Birmingham, passing as they do through a mountainous 
country, were heavy. Probably $40,000 per mile would not be 
too high a figure for the building of the South and North road. 



136 

The Georgia Pacific, projected to run from Atlanta to Colum- 
bus, Miss., is completed except twenty-five miles of gap west of 
Birmingham, which gap is now being closed. This route passes 
through the famous Walker county coal measures. These meas- 
ures produce the best quality of coal in the State ; particularly 
adapted to ocean transportation, as it does not crumble from the 
effects of salt atmosphere. 

Before these roads were built only some twenty-seven per 
cent, of the lands of Alabama were taxed. Now about sixty per 
cent, are taxed. Increase of towns and farms along their entire 
lines show that the State's aid given to them has returned a rich 
interest to the public treasury. The convenience of the public has 
been greatly promoted by the establishment of centres of distribu- 
tion of merchandise and money throughout the State. Large 
stocks of goods and banks of exchange exist at Huntsville, De- 
catur, Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery, Eufaulaand Demopolis, 
all interior towns. These are the effects of the railroads. 

The gross earnings of at least one of these trunk lines are 
more than 300 per cent, greater now than they were ten years 
ago, or before the success of Birmingham. 

These lines give Birmingham connection with Louisville 
through the centre of Tennessee, and with Cincinnati, and with 
Atlanta ; also with New Orleans, Mobile and Vicksburg. The 
completion of the Georgia Pacific to Columbus, Miss., with a 
branch to the new town Sheffield, which will probably soon be 
accomplished, will open the markets of Memphis, St. Louis and 
all the towns of the Mississippi valley to Birmingham coal, pig 
iron and manufactures of various kinds. 

MEMPHIS AND BIRMINGHAM. 

The railroad which will at an early day be completed from 
Memphis to Birmingham is second to none in importance to the 
latter town. This road will open the coal and iron markets of 
Little Rock and Kansas City to the mines and iron manufactures 
of the Birmingham district. 

The proposed extension of the road reaching in this direction 
from Columbus, Ga., will open another route to the sea. 

THE MOBILE AND WESTERN. 

This road is completed to Jackson on the Bigbee river, thirty 
miles out from Mobile. Its object is to connect the Walker coal 
fields with deep water at that port. It will pass through the most 



137 

fertile agricultural region of Alabama in its entire length. It is 
of the utmost importance to all the completed lines of road to 
which Birmingham turns for support. 

WATER LINES. 

The river lines of transportation tapping the mineral re- 
sources of Alabama arc remarkable for their numbers and con- 
nections. The Louisville and Nashville road crosses the Ten- 
nessee at Decatur, and the Alabama at Montgomery. The Ala- 
bama Great Southern crosses the Warrior and Tombigbee, and 
the Mississippi at Vicksburg. The Georgia Pacific crosses the 
Coosa and the Bigbee at Columbus, Miss. The road coming this 
way from Columbus, Ga., will, of course, touch the Chattahoochee 
at that point. 

It is believed to open the Warrior and Coosa rivers to light 
draft steam navigation, will allow coal to be unloaded at Mobile 
at $1 50 per ton. In view of the early inevitable transit of 
steamers between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, across the 
isthmus of Central America, Mobile must become a great coaling 
station and shipyard and manufacturer of iron. 

THE FUTURE OF ALABAMA. 

We have already established the fact that the coal fields of 
Alabama are practicably inexhaustible. We have shown the pres- 
ent and prospective transportation lines through which their pro- 
duct must reach the commerce of the world. The coal of Great 
Britain has made that Kingdom the most powerful commercial 
nation in the world. The coal of Pennsylvania has made that 
State, combined with the riches of an agriculture devoted to the 
support of its mining and manufacturing classes, and creating 
great manufacturing and commercial cities, the foremost of 
American Commonwealths. 

Events are rapidly converging toward Alabama as the great 
coal and iron region of the world. 

RAILROAD LANDS. 

The railroads passing through the mineral lands of Alabama 
encourage immigration. The large German colony, called Cull- 
man, in honor of its founder, established in a most prosperous 
condition along the South and North division of the Louisville & 
Nashville Koad, is greatly indebted to the liberality of the road. 
The roads all own valuable mineral and agricultural lands now 



138 

open to colonists. They are now selling liberally to agents of 
colonies and to individual settlers. 

"Geologically, these lands belong to the regions of the coal measures and to 
the distinct agricultural division of the coal bearing sandstones, conglomerates 
and shales. The prevalence of one or the other of these rocks determines the 
character of the soil resulting from their disintegration. It can be classed as a 
light, sandy loam, of a gray, more or less yellowish or brownish color, warm, 
easily worked, and, like most of the upland soils, wanting in vegetable matter, 
deficient in lime and phosphoric acid, with a fair amount of potash. The per- 
centage of clay varies according to the extent of the presence of those of its con- 
stituents derived from the disintegration of the shales. The best grades of these 
soils, capable of the highest improvement, are the brown or yellowish loams, 
with a subsoil of deeper tints, and which can be said to form three-quarters of the 
whole area ofthe arable lands. These lauds are covered with a vigorous and 
varied timber growth, prevailingly hard-wood trees, upland oaks, post oak, Span- 
ish oak, scarlet oak, tan-bark oak, black oak', fine chestnuts, upland hickories, 
highland black-gum, some scattered tulip trees — all more or less mixed with 
short-leaf pine, and with an undergrowth of dogwood, sourwood and sassafras. 
It is by the vigor of the growth of the individual trees that the natural strength 
of the soil can best be estimated. Whenever the soil becomes more sandy and 
lighter the pines are found predominating. Their appearance, however, may in 
that respect be misleading, as after the removal ofthe original timber growth the 
pine takes almost entire possession ofthe soil, whatever its quality might be. On 
the poor, sandy, dry ridges the stately and valuable short-leaf and loblolly pine 
are replaced by the worthless scrub or mountain pine. 

The stand ofthe pine timber is very heavy, yielding timber of an excellent 
quality, giving rise to an active lumber industry along the railroad lines. The 
lands, denuded of their marketable timber growth, are easily cleared, and can be 
obtained at very low rates. Considering the facilities with which large flocks of 
sheep and herds of cattle can be kept, the required amount of manure that can 
be made, and the low cost of fencing and building by the cheapness ofthe lum- 
ber, the man of small means will scarcely find better opportunities to start out 
on the road to achieve a homestead, affording him a more independent existence 
than by settling these lands. — From the. Birmingham Daily Age. 



Chapter XIII. 



FARMING LANDS. 

Agricultural lauds in all parts of Alabama are exceedingly 
cheap when put on sale. The explanation of this fact is to be 
found in the general scarcity of money seeking investment in 
realty of that character, and impediments to negotiating loans 
needed to cultivate it, after purchase, on sound principles of ag- 
riculture. The cash capital resident in the State finds quicker 
and larger returns in various kinds of commercial ventures, and 
in manuiactures, small and great, located in or near the towns, 
and this will continue to be the case until increased demand 
growing out of the labor of those industries, shall make a home 
market for agricultural products of neighboring farms. 

The great disproportion of arable fields to the supply of 
wages, and labor, is a manifest cause of low prices of lands in 
Alabama. A not inconsiderable part of the fertile lands of the 
State, could be bought, cash down, for the market value of an 
average single crop of cotton taken from them. . 

Annual rents taken from these lands bear a much nearer rel- 
ative proportion to their intrinsic value than do the prices com- 
manded by transfers in fee simple. Nevertheless in the more 
densely populated regions near the trunk lines of railroad there 
is a steady and healthful appreciation of saleable values in lands. 
Everywhere there is an abundance of timber for home demands, 
and excellent water. There are no swamp or overflown lands 
away from the coast. 

It is a fact no less interesting to the immigrant than re- 
markable in itself, that every county in Alabama will produce in 
abundance all the field crops, orchard and vineyard products 
which any one of the number may do. The slight exception to 



140 

this general rule may exist in the adaptability of the Gulf Coast 
to some tropical fruits which the mountain counties will not al- 
low. Every county in the State will readily produce cotton, 
wool and silk, all for conversion into wearing apparel, and at the 
same time produce the vegetable and animal diet habitually con- 
sumed in greatest variety by the most enlightened and wealthiest 
of populations in all countries. 

Alabama lands are readily convertible into mixed or diver- 
sified farming. 

If it be admitted, for example, that the medium class of Ohio 
farm lands will yield fifty bushels of corn per acre, the medium 
class of Alabama lands! will yield pea-nuts, chestnuts, sorghum 




seed, yams, etc., in sufficient quantities per acre to fatten as many 
pounds of pork here, as fifty bushels of corn will fatten in Ohio. 

In place of bluegrass for grazing in Illinois, we here have 
for perennial winter pasture grass, white and yellow clover, and 
the vetch ; and for annuals for winter grazing, rye, barley, wheat 
and oats. There are few winter days so stormy or cold in Ala- 
bama as to compel the farmer to shelter and feed his stock away 
from the pasture. On the other hand, pasturage is practically 
closed several months of the cold season in Illinois, and expen- 
sive shelters are then necessary. 

Available pasturage in Alabama has not been fairly presented 
until the merits of the two grasses, vetch and Bermuda, in combi- 
nation on the same sod, shall have been brought to view. 



141 

The vetch is a leguminous, late fall, winter and early spring 
pasture grass, and though botanically classed as an annual, itself 
seeds the land so heavily as to be practically perennial. The Ber- 
muda is a late spring, summer and early fall grass, its surface 
rooted, and is practically indestructible from drouth, or seasons 
of any kind. 

These two grasses interfere in no degree with each other 
when set on the same sod. Together they afford from the same 
enclosure perpetual pasturage of a most valuable and nutritious 
nature — the one for that half the year in which the other fails 
naturally to appear. There is no substitute for the winter vetch 
in the North or West, and the Bermuda of Alabama is equal in all 
pasturage qualities to any summer grass to be found elsewhere. 

The conveniences of agriculture are promoted by an abund- 
ance of postoffices, by numerous villages, towns, cities, by a plen- 
tiful supply of banks of deposit and exchange, and by $27,000,- 
000 of railroads, besides the river lines of transportation. Leg- 
islation is now being directed toward a reformed system of wagon 
roads. Especially is this the fact on the wagon roads leading out 
from Birmingham. These arc required to be Macadamized to 
the extent of an annual tax on the county. 

Birmingham is situated in Jones' Valley. This valley con- 
tains many thousands of acres of excellent farming lands. The 
lands produce corn, wheat, red clover, sorghum, cotton and all 
kinds of truck crops adapted to this climate. They are composed 
of a sandy loam, which, when plowed deep, retains moisture well 
in seasons of drouth, and is easily drained of surface water. 
These lands respond eagerly to the use of fertilizers, and the 
yield of many of the crops named, and many others not named, 
is highly satisfactory as compared with any lands in the State. 
The natural pasturage is excellent. Hundred ot milch cows, be- 
longing to dairymen on the suburbs, and to private families and 
private boarding houses in the city, are driven every day from 
April to November out to the natural pasture grounds surround- 
ing the city, where they browzc all day on the wild clover cover- 
ing the earth, and growing from four inches to eighteen inches 
tall. 



142 

Only skill, energy and small capital are required by a farmer 
to prosecute a successful business around Birmingham. Farms 
rent from three to six dollars per acre within two to three miles 
of the center of the city, and sell from $75, to $150, the acre. 



Chapter XIV, 



EARLY REPRESENTATIVE MEN. 



MAJOR THOMAS PETERS. 

Thomas Peters came of respectable parentage of Wake 
County, North Carolina, where he was born in 1829. His early 
life was adventurous and enterprising and spent in the South- 
western States. He was a Confederate soldier from the first to 
the close of the war for Confederate independence. His military 
duties created the opportunity by which he became well ac- 
quainted with the mineral wealth of Alabama. It was known 
to him that the Confederate arsenal at Selma had cast cannon of 
Alabama iron, remarkable for its adaptability to this severe test. 
As soon as 'the war terminated Major Peters, alone and with 
small encouragement from others, began to explore and locate 
lands in the mineral region of this State. He was penniless then, 
and travelled afoot over the mountains. He soon acquired for- 
tune by his energy, judgment and enterprise in operations in 
those lands. He was among the earliest, bravest, most intelli- 
gent and most deservedly influential settlers of Birmingham. His 
charities were proverbial and his sympathies always open to 
merit. He died in Louisville, where he had gone to superintend 
the mineral exhibits from Alabama at the great Exposition of 
1883, literally "with harness on his back." His body was re- 
turned to Birmingham, and the demonstrations of universal pub- 
lic grief on the occasion of its interment here, were proof of his 
hold on the affections of this people, whom he well served. 

The Confederate cannon captured at Selma by the Union 
forces, were subsequently sold by the Government. It is related 



144 

that a purchaser expected when making his investment to break 
the guns into pieces for economy of transportation. This meas- 
ure he proceeded to carry into effect, but finding it impossible to 
break the iron, he was forced to undergo the additional expense 
of hauling it intact. It is said no gun made of Alabama iron 
has been known to burst. 




COL. J. W. SLOSS. 
Is a native of Northern Alabama. Colonel Sloss owns a 
beautiful residence with extensive grounds in the central part of 
the city, and is an acknowledged factor in the social life of Bir- 
mingham. He is President of the South & North Alabama 
Railroad Company, from Decatur via Birmingham to Mont- 
gomery. He is also President of the Sloss Furnace Company, 
located on the suburbs of the town, which is probably the 
wealthiest corporation of the kind in the State, and is active in 
other industrial local enterprises. Colonel Sloss is the Superin- 
tendent of the Sunday School of the First Methodist Episcopal 
Church South of Birmingham, and is an active, and more than 
ordinarily intelligent, sympathizer with all social reforms. He is 
President of the Alabama Chautaqua Association, of Lake De 
Funiac, Florida, and takes practical interest in its work. 



145 

His sons occupy responsible positions in the Sloss Furnace 
Company, and are fully identified with the interests of Birming- 
ham. 

Colonel Sloss was one of the original projectors of the first 
coal mine opened, and the first furnace put in blast in this dis- 
trict, and being a pioneer here, is yet increasingly active in the 
progress of the good work he so substantially inaugurated. 

HENRY F. DE BARDELEBEN. 

This public spirited gentlemen is a native of Autauga 
County, Alabama. With Colonel Sloss and others, he built the 
Eureka Furnace at Oxmoor, the first in this district. He was 
the prime mover in opening the Pratt Coal Mines, and once 
owned, at least, a controlling interest in this, one of the largest 
coal properties in the world. He was the prime mover in build- 
ing the Alice Furnace, which opened iron manufacture near Bir- 
mingham. These were the decisive enterprises upon which the 
city began to grow in public confidence. DeBardeleben and 
Underwood, now own the Mary Pratt Furnace, one of the most 
beautiful, substantial and well ordered works of the kind any- 
where to be found. The management of this furnace takes 
character from the junior partner, a man destined to go higher in 
the industrial future of Alabama ; happy the State had she more 
like unto him. Mr. DeBardeleben, until a few weeks ago, gave 
his time and energies to the great Henry Ellen Coal Mines on 
the Georgia Pacific Railroad, twelve miles cast of Birmingham. 
These mines are destined to rank among the great collieries of 
the world. After placing this splendid property on a firm foot- 
ing, he then organized a new mining and furnace company at 
Jonesboro, thirteen miles southwest of Birmingham, on the Ala- 
bama Great Southern Railroad. The capital stock is $2,000,000. 
Mr. DeBardeleben holds largely of it — the other part being di- 
vided between Charleston, South Carolina, and Manchester, 
England. He is President and General Manager of the corpo- 
ration. He says in five years his company alone will double the 
present output of pig iron in Alabama. 

Mr. DeBardeleben's private residence in the city is a hand- 
some three-story brick, in imitation of granite, and is surrounded 
by capacious grounds. He has been the most successful organizer 
of great industries who, probably, ever lived in Alabama. 



146 



DE. HENRY M. CALDWELL. 

This influential citizen is typical of Birmingham life. Born 
in Greenville, Butler county, Ala., forty-nine years ago, he grew 
to man's estate there, and chose the profession of medicine as his 
field. In his twenty-first year he graduated at the celebrated 
University of Pennsylvania, in the medical department. True to 
the land of his birth, when his services were needed, he entered 
the medical staff of the Confederate army. He served first as 
Assistant Surgeon in the 33rd Alabama Infantry, and, later in the 
progress of the war, was assigned to post hospital service. After 
the disbandment of the army he returned to the general practice 
of his profession, which position he maintained for two years, 
when he permanently entered commercial and financial circles. 




Coming to Birmingham in 1875, Dr. Caldwell served, for a 
time, as mayor. He was made President, the second in order, of 
the Elyton Land Company. The financial ability of the Company 
was so low, at that time, that the office was virtually without a 
salary. But Dr. Caldwell had thoroughly examined the resources 
of the surrounding region, and had studied their value, when 
they should become open to the markets of the world. He prompt- 



147 

ly decided to place hero his life-work. There were various ave- 
nues open to profitable employment of energies, such as his ; coal 
mining;, or iron manufacture, or real estate speculations offered 
each fruitful results. Tie left these to the care of others, and 
chose for himself that position, which carries the broadest influ- 
ence which could fall to the possession of any one individual in 
Alabama. He saw that the direction given to the herculean re- 
sources of the Elyton Land Company would not only determine 
the future of the city, but would sensibly affect the great mining 
and manufacturing enterprises in the vicinage. He, Col. J. W. 
Sloss and Mr. Josiah Morris aided the company with their private 
means in evidence of their confidence. 

Dr. Caldwell has been ten times elected to his office, and the 
salary was, at the last meeting, raised in acknowledgement of his 
services. The control of a corporation as energetic as the Elyton 
Land Company requires high executive ability, tact to deal with 
men and statesmanship to appreciate the relations of the corpo- 
ration interests to the community interests around it. His office 
is to provide for the corporation by making provision for the 
best interests of the city. No one man in Alabama wields a more 
potent industrial influence, than the President of the Elyton 
Land Company. When citizens or strangers come to investigate, 
and to invest in the real estate he controls, his conduct in the 
premises is often conclusive of their action; hence the State of 
Alabama is interested in the efficiency and character of the man 
holding such an office. Often selling thousands of dollars of 
property in a day, litigation has seldom, or never, followed his 
transactions in this line. The sales of his Company for the month 
of March this year, (188(3) were $200,000, nearly all in residence 
lots to bona fide settlers for their own use. 

Dr. Caldwell is President of the "Caldwell Hotel Company," 
which is now engaged in erecting, on a commanding eminence in 
Birmingham, a magnificent six story hotel, from the dome of 
which the entire city and suburbs, and the country for many miles 
around, may he viewed. 

JUDGE MUDD. 

W. S. Mudd came to Jefferson county, from Kentucky, with 
his parents when a small boy. His father sent him back to his 
native State to be there educated among older schools than the 
forests of Alabama then could provide, Before he had reached, 



148 

his thirtieth year he was elected to the judiciary of his adopted 
State. He was continuously retained on the bench, by popular 
elections, until the feebleness of old age forced him to resign in 

the midst of his last term. There was a conservative feature in 
Judge Mudd's character to which a democratic constituency al- 
ways instinctively clings. He was a man of tender sympathies, 
and Roman integrity. He was never in the rear of practical en- 
terprises calculated to advance the real interests of the commu- 
nity in which he lived. His utterances from the bench were 1 de- 
livered with earnestness, and with such man i test clearness of ap- 
prehension, as to inspire great confidence. His construction of the 
law or the evidence was seldom reversed by the final court of ap- 
peal, lie died in Birmingham, in sight of the neighboring vil- 
lage of Klyton, where he had reared a large family, and lived a 
happy and prosperous lite. 

Judge Rtudd was a director of the South and North Railroad 
Company, and a large investor in Birmingham real estate. He 
built the "Florence Hotel," a neat and tasteful brick structure, 
which was the first building of the kind in the city. He was di- 
rector in one of the banks. Probably no citizen of the circuit of 
counties which embraced his courts possessed a more substantial 
and unvarying popularity with all classes of men than he. The 
city was sensibly touched in sympathy with his last illness and 
death. 

Judge Mudd was not an office-seeker, but his county sent 
him to the convention which framed the State constitution un- 
der which we live, because of his sound statesmanship and strong 
personal influences. 

DR. JOSEPH ti. SMITH. 
This gentleman, a native of Jefferson county, and born near 
the present site of Birmingham, now approaching three-score 
and ten, is a representative of the new, taken from the ranks of 
the old, civilization ; a most active promoter of the interests oi 
Birmingham, lie had lived in the vicinity of the city many 
years as a cotton planter, physician and newspaper editor. His 
investments are large in the city, and near it. He established at 
his own expense a large driving park, well shaded, with a circu- 
lar track of near a mile, in easy reach of the residence portion of 
the city, kept in order at his expense, whose gates are opened 
free to the public in summer. He is often seen on the streets al- 



149 

ways cheerful, sympathetic and frank ; his presence inspires hope 
and good feeling around the large circle of his acquaintances. Ho 
is one of the few old men met in society, whose confidence in 
the duties of the present seems spontaneous, as it certainly is 
inspiring to the workers. Thus in age may yet reside high 
powers of influence, when hope has not been extinguished by its 
approach. 

Dr. Smith is supposed to be one of the first four whites born 
in Jefferson county. He remembers the coming to Elyton of the 
weekly mail, brought once a week by the carrier over the moun- 
tain trails on a horse. He remembers the expansion of the sad- 
dle bag mail system to the great pouch of the six horse daily 
stage, as it trotted through the valley to the winding notes of the 
stage driver's bugle. He has grown rich by a total abandon- 
ment of farming, and holding his lands in bare fallow to be ap- 
propriated by the new civilization precipitated by the coming 
across them of the iron horse mail carrier, a dozen times a dav, on 
the iron path. 

COL. JOHN T. MILNER. 

Reference has already been made to Colonel Milner as one 
of the two civil Engineers, who ran the line of one of the trunk 
railroads crossing at Birmingham, and who acted a conspicuous 
part in the prehistoric era of the city. Since then he has de- 
creased nothing in zeal or devotion to his early convictions, and 
hopes of its future. He is a Georgian, and a graduate of the 
Georgia University, but came to Alabama years ago, and has 
worked manfully for the State. At present he is President of 
the Milner Coal & Railroad Company, which operates the New 
Castle Mines. He is also a warm friend of the Mobile and Western 
Railroad Company, which proposes to connect the famous coal 
fields of Walker county with deep water at Mobile. This is an 
enterprise of the greatest conceivable importance to Birmingham, 
and when completed will doubtless make of Mobile an iron man- 
ufacturing center and coal yard for the Gulf commerce. When 
a mere youth Colonel Milner rolled a wheelbarrow in a Califor- 
nia gold mine. 

HON. GOLDSMITH W. HEWITT. 

The object of the brief biographical sketches which com- 
prise this chapter is to illustrate the social character of Birming- 



150 

ham, to the extent, at least, which correct information, respecting 
its most influential citizens, may accomplish that purpose. The 
preponderance of Alabamians and Southerners will attract atten- 
tion. 

Mr. Hewitt, now in the prime of an eventful and highly 
useful career, is a native of Jefferson County. He is the senior 
member of the law firm of Hewitt, Walker & Porter, all of 
whom are natives of the same county. 

In the first months of the war Mr. Hewitt enlisted as a pri- 
vate soldier in the 10th Alabama, in which he served until Au- 
gust, 1862, when he was promoted captain and transferred to the 
28th Alabama Infantry, and was permanently disabled by a 
wound at the battle of Chickamauga. From 1870 to 1874 he 
represented his county in the General Assembly, first in the 
lower House and then in the Senate, from which latter service he 
resigned to accept political promotion. 

Alabama had been shrouded in a deep despair. The gov- 
ernment of her people had been displaced; a military domination 
had been mercilessly set up over them. The year which marked 
returning consciousness of political life in Alabama brought Mr. 
Hewitt into high and responsible office. He entered the 44th 
Congress as a member of the lower House, and at once began a 
consistent career of practical statesmanship. His representative 
labors were successful to an eminent degree ; but it is not only in 
their success attained by energy and courage, but in their com- 
prehensive and timely wisdom, that they have attracted attention. 
It required a bold ex-rebel a dozen years ago to proclaim from 
his suspected place in the Congress of the Union that the seat of 
justice of the Federal power in his State was a grand travesty on 
forms of law. The first act of representative Hewitt was the 
introduction of a bill, " to secure an impartial administration of 
justice in the Federal courts of Alabama." The task of the 
mover was to show that his bill proposed to remove a political 
machinery from those courts. The bill, or its equivalent, became 
law. The happy realization of its statesmanship is proven in the 
augmented reliance of the people on the law, and their better 
observance of its exactions. 

The second act of Mr. Hewitt in Congress was in sympathy 
with another great reform, required by the development of the 
revolution. The substance of it is now esteemed by all who look 



151 

to the science of politics, as the foundation of practical government 
to be essential to our system. This second service was a bill to pro- 
hibit the despotic practice of assessment then in full tide of corrupt- 
ing effects in all the departments, in the great custom houses, in 
the Internal Revenue service, and wherever salaried officials 
of the government could be conveniently approached. This bill 
is the germ of civil service reform demanded not alone by the 
exigency of the general welfare, but by the messages of all the 
Presidents since the war. 

Representative Hewitt fully comprehended the situation at 
home. He clearly understood the significance of sympathetic 
laws of Congress with the era of industries opening in his dis- 
trict. He had small confidence in the generalizations of theories, 
but unbounded trust in the resourses of the mountains and val- 
leys of the counties which had sent him to Congress, and in the 
courage, capacity and purpose of his constituents to prosper in 
their marvelous stores of natural wealth. Therefore, he could 
find no opportunity for prolix speeches on irrelevant themes. He 
believed the constructive adaptability of the Constitution to real- 
ized emergencies of reform and progress, to be the only security 
to the life of that organic law, and that to conceal its spirit be- 
neath the rubbish of an exhausted civilization would be equiva- 
lent to revolution. 

Among the leading works of Mr. Hewitt, in his eight years of 
congressional service, were a bill prepared and introduced by him 
to pension surviving soldiers from both sections of the Union 
who had served in the Indian wars of Florida and Alabama, and 
in the Mexican war, which did not pass the Senate ; a bill to re- 
peal the law denying pensions to all but loyal persons ; an argu- 
ment before the House Judiciary Committee presenting the 
great evils of the then prevailing and now reformed Federal 
jury system; efforts to remonetize silver and to prevent the re- 
tirement of greenbacks, and to prohibit banks of # issue ; to sup- 
press polygamy in Utah ; to appropriate funds for the improve- 
ment of Alabama rivers and Mobile habor ; to "secure lands for 
the landless and homes for the homeless " on the public domain. 
His efforts prevented the passing of coal lands of Alabama into 
the hands of monopolists who sought to buy them at government 
sale at nominal prices in a body, and close them to enterprise or 
settlement. He opposed the Reagan Inter-State Commerce Bill, 



152 

on the ground that to delay railroad building in Alabama by this 
menace against that species of property would be a far greater 
injury to all the people of the State than even such freight or 
passenger tariffs which railroad management could inflict on 
them in any probable case. Mr. Hewitt believes his own steady 
and vigorous opposition to the Senate amendments to the Mexi- 
can contingency for four days and nights, saved over $1,000,000,- 
000 to the public treasury. 

Mr. Hewitt's views on the tariff' are conservative. He be- 
lieved we should have a tariff for revenue with incidental pro- 
tection ; and a revenue from a tariff only. The revenue thus 
raised, in order to be equal to an economical administration of 
the government, would necessarily require protection to the full 
extent needed by ourweeker industries. The adjustment of the 
schedule would be a business process involving only a thorough 
acquaintance with the subjects to be protected. 

Mr. Hewitt volutarily retired from office in 1885. His rec- 
ord is one of eminent satisfaction to his constituency, and of 
honor to Alabama. 

DR. M. H. JORDAN. 

Dr. Jordan, though yet a young man, is among the early 
settlers of Birmingham, and stands in the front rank of his pro- 
fession in Alabama. As a surgeon he is especially esteemed. 
He is a native of Jefferson County, and comes from one of the 
oldest and most respectable families in the State. For some time 
in the earlier city administrations he was Alderman. Indepen- 
dent in means, his devotion to his profession holds him firmly 
bound to its arduous duties. His efficiency in its practice is to 
be attributed not less to a zealous and enthusiastic study of its 
literature, than to the gentleness and urbanity of manner, which 
in the sick room and in society, preeminently distinguish him. 
He is, in every sense, conspiciously a representative man of Bir- 
mingham. , 



153 

WILLIAM II. MORRIS, 

was the third mayor of Birmingham. Mr. Morris is a native of 
Chambers county, Ala. He came early to the city, and at once 
entered into its history as a man of public spirit, enterprise and 
confidence in the future. He served as Alderman in 1878-4. 
In 1874 he was elected mayor, over Dr. W. T. Parker, and was 
then in his twenty-eighth year only. He served two wars, and 
was re-elected over Mr. James O'Connor. Before his term had 




expired he resigned. The office of mayor of the city was a thank- 
less one in Mr. Morris' terms. The cholera and the financial 
panic had literally broken up the city. He watched by its cradle 
faithfully, and has been repaid. He is now Secretary and Treas- 
urer of the Avondale Land Company, and is a valuable citizen. 
Like all other business men interested in the growth of the city 
his faith brightens with contemporary events. He thinks as all 
other business men do that Mayor Lane's administration is of in- 
calculable service to the city and a high honor to the mayor. 



154 

THOMAS JEFFERS. 

Thomas Jeffers was born in Macon, Georgia, forty years be- 
fore the date on which he became mayor of Birmingham. 
Being of an adventurous nature, when fifteen years old he deter- 
mined to join the United States Navy. Stopping to see friends 
in Petersburgh, Virginia, on his line of travel, they dissuaded 
him from goiug on the sea. On his return route he stopped at 




Wilmington, North Carolina, and apprenticed himself for six- 
years in a machine shop. During this term of apprenticeship he 
enlisted for " three years or the war," in the 10th North Caro- 
lina Artillery, Confederate States Army. After seeing and par- 
ticipating in many engagements on the field, Mr. Jeffers was de- 
tached and ordered to ship aboard a Confederate blockade runner 
bound for Nassau. On this expedition he was captured at sea by 
the Federal naval forces, and having been sent to Fortress Monroe, 



155 

was imprisoned at that point for several months ; released, at last, 
he made his way to Baltimore. The bad luck of his first voy- 
age had in no degree thrown a damper over his Southern zeal. 
At Baltimore he shipped on a schooner bound for Nassau, taking 
passage as an ordinary seaman before the mast. Arriving, via 
this route, his original destination, Nassau, he re-shipped for 
Dixie, and entered the Port of Wilmington, passing through the 
Federal cordon of ships, without adventure. Leaving that port 
the second time, bound for Halifax, New Foundland, Mr. Jeffers 
was the second time captured and re-consigned to his old quar- 
ter at Fortress Monroe, where he remained ten days in durance 
vile. Halifax however was ahead of him yet. Therefore, by 
way of Boston to Halifax he went. There he joined a conspiracy 
to capture the Federal mail steamer. The conspiracy failed by 
the perfidy of one of the band of operators. Shipping from 
Halifax, via Nassau, he made several unsuccessful attempts to re- 
enter the Confederacy at Wilmington and Charleston. Happen- 
ing at Havana in his cruise, he joined a boat plying between that 
point and Galveston, and remained in this hazardous service the 
balance of the war. 

After a varied and interesting experience in the Spanish 
transport service and the cattle transportation business from 
Havana to Tampa, Florida, Mr. Jeffers returned to the rail- 
roads of the Southern States. In 1873, a bad year for the town, 
on account of the cholera and the financial panic, he settled in 
Birmingham as foreman of the Louisville and Nashville Rail- 
road shops, just established here. While thus employed he took 
a lively interest in the city government, and was elected to a seat 
in the city council. While alderman he was Chairman of the 
Committee on Streets and of the Committee on Schools. 

In 1878 Mr. Jeffers was announced as a candidate for the 
mayoralty of the young town. The friends of Col. James R. 
Powell, the " Duke of Birmingham," summoned him from his 
cotton plantations on the Yazoo to contest the election. Mr. 
Jeffers won the office, after a hard and close battle with his dis- 
tinguished opponent. 

In 1880 Mr. Jeffers again stood for the mayoralty against 
three opposing competitors, and won. In 1882 he offered for the 
third time, and was defeated by the present incumbent, Mayor 



156 

Lane, after a most vigorous and exciting canvass by a small ma- 
jority. 

Mr. Jeffers is a citizen of the town largely identified with 
its interests. He is the junior of the firm of Thomas & Jeffers, 
lumbermen ami building contractors, ami is the Superintendent 
of the Birmingham lias Works Company, He seems to find in 
the progress of daily events around him here full seope for the 
excitements which his nature craves, and full call for his untiring 
energies. 

A. 0. LANE. 

Alexander Oscar Lane has been twice elected mayor of 
Birmingham, and now occupies that office. He is a native of 
Alabama, a young man of liberal education, indomitable eour- 




.AA°a 




age, much energy, and posesses a suggestive mind directed by 
sound judgment. He came here in the early years of the citv, 
and soon learned to look forward with unbounded confidence in 



157 

its growth. From time to time he invested his small earnings 
in real estate. He is now a Director in one of the chief banks, 
and the owner of very valuable property. His residence is a 
model of a happy home, neat, roomy and orderly. No man in 
Alabama is more sympathetic with the advanced thought of the 
times, touching practical politics and social science, than Mr. 
Lane. He is distinguished by the complete confidence of his 
fellow townsmen. 

As presiding officer of the daily sessions of the Mayor's 
Court, he is quick, sound and firm in his rulings. He has been 
a journalist in this town, of force and influence. He has been 
Register in the Chancery Court of Jefferson County, and served 
with admirable tact and ability. He was made Chairman of the 
Congressional Nominating Convention of the Democratic party 
of this District, at its last meeting without notice to him or so- 
licitation from him. 

His city administration is active, conservative, energetic aud 
prudent. An immense deal of improvement of the most notable 
and valuable kind has been done on the streets with dispatch and 
economy, denoting wise supervision by the chief executive 
officer. 

Mr. Lane's address, delivered before the River and Harbor 
Improvement Convention, assembled at Tuscaloosa, November, 
1885, displayed the highest appreciation of the value of the sub- 
ject to Alabama, and was received by that intelligent body with 
distinguished approbation. 

Mr. Lane is the senior member of a legal firm doing a large 
and growing business, and is an active member of the State Ex- 
ecutive Committee of the Democratic party. His law firm occu- 
pies three capacious and elegant rooms in one of the largest of 
the new buildings. 

BAYLESS E. GRACE. 

The old time planters and slave holders of Jones' Valley 
were a peculiar class of men. Land locked amidst the moun- 
tains, they developed a character as distinct as islanders. They 
were as amiable as a June morning, and as temperate as the soft 
breezes which gave them ruddy cheeks and clear heads. They 
did not labor with their own hands, and the toil of their slaves 
appeared to be a kind of family arrangement preliminary to the 



158 

final enjoyment of some big holiday set for the future. Nobody, 
white or black, was ever in a hurry, and all maintained the un- 
disputed right of private judgment, with small authority to en- 
force a decree, resting anywhere. The planter ordinarily walk- 
ed out at dawn of day among his poultry yards, and stock pens, 
in his shirt sleeves, to enjoy his pipe, to partake of the serenity 
of well fed flocks and herds, and chat with his lazy negro plow- 
men who filed by at a later hour. 

The valley planter differed from the mountaineer in the 
breadth of his education, which was liberal, in the profuse good 
cheer of his board, in his general intelligence and ability to 
rear and support his family. He differed from the great planters 
of the black belt in the simpler aspirations of life. He placed 
no great stress upon the fit of his clothes, the regulation of his 
etiquette, or the spread of his fortune. He delighted in hospi- 
tality with no thought of its exacting ceremonies. His moral 
nature was pure, brave and unselfish ; he loved his country and 
feared his God. Standing on the social "divide" between the 
aristocracy of the black belt, and the yeomanry of the mountains, 
he filled that happy mean in character, rarely found, which 
is sure to make a strong community. But the Jones' Valley 
cotton planting class is extinct, for better or worse. It has pass- 
ed onward with the revolution, while the impoverished co- 
patriots of the black belt have taken the counter march in the 
role of fortune. 

Mr. Grace is one of the most illustrative characters of his 
class. Venerable in memories of the past, he is yet active in 
the new era. The victim of a revolution, he is one of the for- 
tunate beneficiaries of the restored prosperity of Alabama in the 
new channels. 

When Maj. Peters first appeared in this part of Jones' Val- 
ley, locating mineral lands, poor and on foot, he came as the un- 
heralded prophet of the day. Mr. Grace took his words to 
heart, and took the neglected pioneer by the hand, and remained 
steadfast in support of his efforts. 

WILLIAM A. GOULD. 

Two most important discoveries in the history of mining in 
Alabama, belong to this honest and sturdy Scot. With pick on 
shoulder he went into the deep forests and first opened to view 
the great Pratt seam of coal. From the product of the seam he 



159 

first made coke. These two events prove to have been the turn- 
ing points in the restoration of the prosperity of Alabama. 

Mr. Gould had mined coal near Tuscaloosa in 1854. The 
next year he opened the first mine of the Montevallo Coal Com- 
pany, now the Aldrich Company. Later he opened mines at 
Broken Arrow and Trout Creek, St. Clair County. He entered 
the coal business largely, boating cargoes to Mobile and other 
cities on the water routes. Mr. Gould and Mr. Beggs, now a 
large iron manufacturer of Birmingham, bought 160 acres of 
land around the former's discovery of the Pratt seam. Untoward 
fortune compelled Mr. Gould to sell his interest for $1,800. At, 
or near, the point of original discovery is now located Drift No. 1, 
of the Pratt Coal & Iron Company. 

Mr. Gould made 100 tons of coke from the Pratt seam coal, 
and the Eureka Furnace Company tested it, and, finding it good, 
began the substitution of coke for charcoal. All the blast fur- 
naces of Alabama then used charcoal. 

Mr. Gould has important work now in contemplation in the 
mining interests of the State, and justly ranks among the most 
useful men in its borders. 

HON. M. T. PORTER. 

The position of Judge of Probate of Jefferson county is a 
most responsible office, as well as a lucrative one. To be filled 
acceptably the incumbent must be at his post continually, with a 
faculty for system and order well developed, a clear judgment 
and thorough knowledge of the people whom he serves, and 
must be in full sympathy with their wants as they appear before 
his court. Upon the retirement from the office of Hon. John 
C. Morrow, a native of Jefferson County, a gallant soldier and a 
man of marked ability and capacity for the place, Governor 
O'Neal made one of those happy appointments for which his two 
administrations have been noted, by the selection of the subject 
of this notice as Judge Morrow's successor. 

Judge Porter is the son of Dr. Porter, a physician of high 
standing in Shelby County in his lifetime. At the little village 
of Montevallo, under the terminus of the mountain range, he 
was born 61 years ago. When only a few months old his widow- 
ed mother brought him to live on a farm, a part of which is now 
one of the most beautiful southern surburbs of Birmingham. 




C. H. Francis & Co., Shoe Store. 



161 

In course of time the son was sent to the East Tennessee 
University, where in 1848 he was graduated. 

Mr. Porter, at the incipiency of war, raised a company call- 
ed the Jefferson Rilles, and as its Captain, was mustered into the 
Confederate Army and assigned to the famous 20th Alabama 
Infantry, commanded by Col. I. G. Garrott, of Marion, until his 
promotion, and afterward by Col. E. W. Pettus until his promo- 
tion. Captain Porter's Company was the Color Company of his 
Regiment. Amidst such surroundings Captain Porter rose suc- 
cessively to the rank of Major, and Lieutenant Colonel. 

While a paroled prisoner of the Confederate garrison of 
Vicksburg, which surrendered to Gen. Grant, July 4th, 1863, 
Col. Porter was elected State Senator from the District composed 
of the county of his birth and that of his adoption. 

While living in Birmingham as a practicing lawyer, a peti- 
tion, numerously signed by his fellow citizens, arrested the atten- 
tion of the Governor and resulted in his appointment to his 
present office. 



THE BANK PRESIDENTS. 



CHRISTIAN F. ENSLEN 

Is the founder of the first Savings Bank opened in Birmingham, 
The Jefferson County Savings Bank, and is its President. 
He is a native of Stutgart, Germany, and is a self-made 
man, in the familiar phrase used to designate one who, 
in the humbler labors of life, has accumulated resources 
which enable him now to enlarge his sphere of capacity. He is 
yet a working man, so far as close attention to the duty of the 
hour may indicate one. By diligence, economy and successful 
investments he has come in possession of a comfortable fortune. 
His Bank is constantly growing in business, which is proof of 
the confidence of the community in which he has prospered and 
constantly resided. His son, Mr. Eugene F. Enslen, is the effi- 
cient cashier. 

The building is a four story brick, owned by the Bank Pres- 
ident. Its mansard root and trimmings make it one of the 
most striking, as it is one of the most substantial, edifices of the 
city. It was completed in December, 1885. 



162 

JOSEPH F. JOHNSTON 

Is the President of the second largest Bank, estimated as to capi- 
tal stock and business. This is called the Alabama State Bank. 
Capt. Johnston is a native of North Carolina, but came to Selma, 
Alabama, as a lawyer, some 20 years ago. At the age of 17 he 
abandoned college to join the Confederate army. He made a 
reputation as a cautious and skillful advocate, when at the bar. 
His executive ability persuaded the Democrats of the State to 
make him Chairman of their Central and Governing Committee, 
at a critical period of the party career. He is a logical and pol- 
ished writer, and stands in enviable influence at home and 
abroad, as a banker of advanced views. In the industrial and 
social life of Birmingham, he is a forceful and esteemed citizen. 
The Alabama State Bank is a three story commodious brick, 
the interior finished with the native yellow pine, the grain being 
displayed under oil, without paint. Mr. J. W. Read is the 
cashier. 

WILLIAM BERNEY, 

Is the founder and President of the latest of the Banks, the 
"Berney National." He is a son of the late Dr. Berney of 
Montgomery, a physician of eminence, and a gentleman of high 
influence in that city. There the Bank President was born. 
Mr. Berney came to Birmingham as an agent of the North & 
South Railroad, when a young man. His later experiences have 
carried him successfully through all the grades of the Banker's 
training. He is one of that estimable class of business men 
never so very busy as not to have time to lend a patient 
hearing to all who approach them with honest intent. These are 
the strong and faithful, whether masters of much or little. The 
local popularity of the President, in this case, is of material bene- 
fit to the Bank. 

The Berney National is supported by some of the most en- 
terprising of the younger merchants and capitalists of the city. 
The building is the model of good taste in appropriate architec- 
ture, being built of pressed brick, with grey stone facings, and 
thoroughly lighted and ventilated. It is one of the most strik- 
ing architectural ornaments to the city. 

Mr. J. B. Cobbs, is the cashier. 

w. J. CAMERON, 

Is President of the First National Bank of Birmingham. This 



163 

gentleman is the youngest, in years, of the Bank Presidents, 
though governing with steady hand, the oldest and strongest of 
these powerful aids to Birmingham prosperity. He is a native 
of Montgomery, Alabama. 

Mr. Cameron is the inheritor of business qualities of the 
highest kind. He is a self poised man, prompt, punctiliously 
polite, yet firm in his administration. He has risen to his 
present enviable rank on his merits, and in regular succession of 
promotions, from clerk onward. Attention to social and civic 
duties has not been neglected. He was Orderly Sergeant in that 
famous corps, the Montgomery Grays, and later was Major of 
the 2d Regiment of State Troops. 

As are all the Bank Presidents, Mr. Cameron is interested 
in the growth of the town, otherwise than as a holder of Bank 
Stock. He is president of the Birmingham Iron Bridge Manu- 
facturing Company. 

The First National Bank was called "Linn's folly," because 
built by Mr. Charles Linn, before other important improvements 
had been made in the city. His son, Mr. E. W. Linn is Cashier, 
and Mr. T. O. Smith, Assistant Cashier. 



Chapter XV, 



COST OF PIG IRON AND ANALYSIS OF ORE AND 
COKE, NATURAL GAS, Etc., Etc. 

When the distinguished Pennsylvania statesman, Hon. Sam- 
uel J. Randall, visited Birmingham the 1st of January, 1885, 
his explorations led him a few miles out into the adjacent mineral 
lands. Standing on a mountain side, loaded with richest deposit 
of red hematite iron ore he had ever known, he espied across the 
valley, only six miles off, the great Pratt Coal and Iron Com- 
pany's coal mines and coke ovens. In the valley itself, uniting 
the ore and the coal, inexhaustible supplies of limestone lay upon 
the surface. The juxtaposition of such resources exist no- 
where out of Alabama. This source of wealth inestimable is 
destined at an early day to find a market through water ways, 
making connection with the sea at Mobile and with the Missis- 
sippi river, and the great empire, drained by it tributaries. In 
view of the widening demand of the world for cheap iron and 
cheap coal, how firm the foundation for confidence in the future 
of Birmingham ! 

The answer therefore to the enquiry touching the cost of 
making pig iron in Birmingham, must be sought in practical ex- 
perience. Results will vary with the degree of energy, skill and 
economy which prevails at each furnace. The proximity of the 
basic materials to the furnace and to each other, as stated above 
and the proportion of metalic iron found in the ore, and the coke 
producing value of the coal, and the price of labor here, and the 
cost of transportation must each play its important part in deter- 
mining the problem. Certain it is that in a recent period of 
protracted depression of the iron trade, under the effects of which 



165 

there was general suspension and wide spread suffering in Penn- 
sylvania in the furnaces, the furnaces of Alabama did not suspend ; 
there were no strikes, and the town of Birmingham steadily 
grew in population and area and wealth during the entire period. 
The following is the analysis of our red hematite ores made 
by a distinguished analytical and consulting chemist, known in all 
parts of the United States for proficiency in his profession. We 
preface it by saying the Birmingham iron is strictly neutral, not 
a trace of sulphur, but a little too high in phosphorus for Besse- 
mer steel. The average of the red hematite is fifty per cent, 
and upward metallic iron. While phosphorus is too high for 
Bessemer it is not sufficiently high to render the iron "cold short.'' 
Therefore it is strictly neutral. It may be well taken that there 
has been a very great increase of daily out put of pig iron from 
Birmingham furnaces in 1886 as compared with previous years. 
Experience has now proven that they can make more iron with 
less ore and less coke and flux than has been the case in the past 
with them. 

ANALYSIS : 

Metallic Iron 58.111 

Phosphorus 069 

Ten combined samples show an average of — 

Metallic Iron 55.59 

Phosphorus 79 

The following figures are recommended as having received 

the highest endorsement which could be desired to prove their 

approximate correctness : 

2i tons of ore at$1.15 $2.58| 

1 ton limestone 70 

1 7.10 tons coke at $2.30 3.91 

Labor and salaries 2.25 

Incidental and depreciation of plant 1 .00 

Cost of a ton of pig iron $10.44f 

Mr. Reese, the inventor of the Basic process of converting 
phosphoretic ores into steel, has visited Birmingham, and has 
sold to iron manufacturers here, the right to use his invention. 
Preparations are at this time being made to test the value of that 
process on Alabama ores. The inventor believes the phosphorus 
*n the ore will be eliminated and then absorbed by the lime used 



166 

to attain that result, and in consequence a phosphorate of great 
value as a fertilizer will be produced. With this estimate as a 
basis variations may be expected, but only from the presence of 
circumstances which do not attack the estimate for all that is 
claimed for it. 

The Mining Journal of Birmingham says : 
"The Connellsville coal is regarded as the standard coal of American mar. 
ket, but the Pratt coal surpasses it in fixed carbon. The samples which were 
used in the analysis we give below, were taken from the face of the seam by a 
vertical cut from top to bottom, and the test made by Professor J. L. Campbell, 
of the Washington-Lee University, Lexington, Va. 




Enoch Ensley, President P. C. & I. Co. 

analysis: 

Moisture ^ 1 06 

Fixed Carbon 64 30 

Volatile Matter 32 08 

Est- Sulphur 47 

The coke made from this coal is of a very superior quality, and is in huge 
demand, not only in this district but many other parts of the United States; 
shipments have been made as far west as Arizona. The erection of a Shep" 
herd's improved Welsh washer, for washing the coal previous to coking, will be 
a vast improvement and greatly enhance the value of the coke". 

The coal of only four states of the union is considered excel- 
lent for coking, and of these Alabama is one, the others being 
Tennessee, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. 



167 

IRON AND COAL SIDE BY SIDE. 

We have seen that there is a great deal of iron made in St. 
Louis from coke transported from Pittsburgh, hundreds of miles 
over railroads often obstructed by freezes in winter. Ohio takes 
a great deal of iron ore from Missouri. 

In Alabama the coal for coking and ore for manufacturing 
and the lime for fluxing lie side by side. What an immense 
difference in the cost of transportation of base materials to the 
furnace men. Here in Birmingham, a stove manufacturer picks 
up free and makes in his shop his own lime at a saving of many 
dollars every day. 

The following letter is from an accomplished mining engi- 
neer of national reputation, who is in the professional employment 
of the great Pratt coal mines : 

OFFICE OF PRATT COAL AND IRON COMPANY, 

Pratt Mines, Ala., March 16, 1886. 
To the Editor: 

We have discovered natural gas near Pratt Mines, and by boring, say 700 
to 1,000 feet any quantity can be obtained to run all the industries in the state of 
Alabama. T also believe that "Natural Gas" can be found under all the Car- 
boniferous and Sub-Carboniferous formations of Alabama. We have had ex- 
perts here from the Pittsburgh gas country, and they all agree that our forma, 
tions here resemble Pittsburgh, (Pa.) 

I am, yours very truly, 

L. W. JOHNS, 

Mining Engineer. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Industries, Real Estate, Taxes, City Gov- 
ernment, Etc., Etc. 



THE PRATT COAL AND IRON COMPANY. 

This great enterprise, as we have seen, was the initiatory 
step in the industrial growth of Birmingham. The Company is 
now engaged (May, 1886,) in erecting four large Blast Furnaces, 
capacity, 150 tons each, per diem. Up to this period it has con- 
fined itself to coal mining and coke manufacture. The general 
character of the mines, and the mining operations we will briefly 
describe. .The coke ovens now in use, and being built, number 
710. They expect soon to build 1000 more, making 1710 in all. 
The capital stock of the Pratt Coal and Iron Company, is 
$1,500,000, without the new enterprise in iron. It owns some 
70,000 acres of coal and ore lands, of great value. The daily out- 
put is about 2,500 tons of coal and is increasing. The pay roll 
is $40,000 per month. The office of the Company is six miles 
northwest of Birmingham, and the mines are connected with the 
city by the Company's own broad gague railroad. It owns 30 
miles of railroad, connecting its several mines with each other 
and with the city. 

The ventilation of the mines is secured on the most scien- 
tific principles, and no accident, occuring from want of ventila- 
tion, has been known. 

This is the largest coal property owned by a single corpor- 
ation. Enoch Ensley, its President, is a native of Tennessee. 
L. W. Johns, the Chief Mining Engineer, is a Welshman. 



169 

The following description is so concise and clear it is adopted 
without abbreviation, though originally appearing in the Bir- 
mingham Age, "Exposition issue :" 

The present openings on the Pratt property, are known as Slope No. 1, the 
Helen shaft, Slope No. 2, the Drift and Laura Slope. The united output of 
these mines per day, is 2,500 tons, which, with their present demand, could be 
increased to at least 3,000 tons per day, were the railroad companies in a posi- 
to furnish cars for the shipment of the orders on hand. 

slope no. 1 
Has been sunk 2,000 feet. There are 14 cross entries, averaging 1,320 feet in 
length, and containing innumerable rooms. The output from this mine is 600 
tons per day. In this slope there are about 15 miles of iron track laid in the 
slope, entries and rooms. Here 200 men, 21 nudes and 270 tram cars are con- 
tinually working. 

The machinery at this slope, comprises one double hoisting engine, drums, 
six boilers and oue endless rope which is 2,000 feet in length, and the only one 
of the kind, in use in the country. It is the invention of L. W. Johns, the min- 
ing engineer. It saves the labor of 50 mules, and can be extended to any 
required distance, and is capable of hauling any amount of coal. It has been 
in use four years, and has neither broken nor got out of gear in any way, shape 
or manner. In the mine are two Knowles' steam pumps, with a capacity of 
500,000 gallons a day. 

THE HELEN SHAFT 

Is one mile northwest of Slope No. 1, and is sunk to a depth of 204 feet from 
the surface. It contains a Slope 3,000 feet long, which connects with Slope No. 1. 
It has eight cross entries above the shaft, and a Slope of 1,000 feet, with four 
cross entries below it. The rooms in the cross entries at this shaft, are opened 
100 feet wide, with 20 feet pillars between, which are robbed as soon as the room 
is worked out. The output from the shaft is 700 tons per day, capable of being 
increased to 1,200 tons. It contains eighteen miles of iron track in the slope 
entries and rooms, and is worked exclusively by convict labor and the 

HAB1USON MINING MACHINE. 

This Machine is propelled by one man, and consists of a pick fastened on 
a piston. With each stroke of the rod the pick delves in the coal at the bottom 
of the seam, to a distance of four feet four inches. Mr. Johns said that the task 
of the man that works the machine, is 90 lineal feet per day, which work he can 
accomplish in six hours. He further stated that some of his best machine men 
have cut 104 feet, for which Mr. Whitcombe, the proprietor of the machine, paid 
his offered reward of |50 to the first man that could cut 150 feet in one day. 

There is an immense difference between the old way of working with a pick, 
and the improved mining machine. With the latter a man can undermine 400 
square feet per day, and with a pick only from 60 to 70 feet. Another advantage 
is, that owing to the great distance reached with the machine, a far better grade 
of coal is obtainable than with the ordinary pick. 



170 

Bight miles of 2\ and 8 inch wrought iron pipes are used for conveying 
compressed air to these machines, and 22 mules and 300 mining cars for trans- 
porting the coal to the edge. The machinery at the shaft comprises one double 
hoisting engine and drums of superior make and finish, capable of hoisting 
1,200 tons per day, one duplex Allison compressor, capable of running 24 of 
the Harrison Mining Machines, and 12 two-flue boilers in three batteries. The 
cages which are used for hoisting the men and coal, are of the most improved 
make and latest patterns, with safety catches, similar to those used on the Com- 
stock lode, in Nevada. 

Three Knowles pumps are in use in the remote parts of the mine and two at 
the bottom of the shaft. The united capacity of the Jatter is one million gallons 
in twenty-four hours. The chutes aud head gear at the top are constructed in 
the most substantial and workmanlike manner of any in the state. At the bot- 
tom of the shaft a great deal of skill and ingenuity has been displayed in the 
manner of loading and unloading the cage. One thousand three hundred cars 
can be handled per day by three men with ease. 








L. W. Johns, Mining Engineer. 



SLOPE NO. 2. I 

is one and one-half miles northeast of No. 1. It was sunk on the cropping of 
the Pratt seam, as was also No. 1. This slope is down 1,700 feet and has eight 
workable cross entries. The rooms are 80 feet wide by 300 feet long, separated 
by pillars of 20 feet. This slope is worked exclusively by convict labor. It 
contains 14 miles of iron track, 300 tram cars, 20 mules and has an output of 500 
tons per day. The machinery consists of one double hoisting engine and drums 
six twelve-flue boilers, one small compressor and three large Knowles' pumps. 



171 

THE DRIFTS. 

Mining is done here on a very extensive scale. They are located in a gulch 
three and one-half miles northeast of slope No. 1. On either side of this ravine 
the cropping.? of the coal are clearly discernible. The headings are driven on 
water level into the mountains, making each sell-draining. The openings are 
five drifts and two slopes, one on the dip northwest and the other on the dip 
southeast. The slope on the dip has been driven three-fourths of a mile through 
a mountain. To accomplish this gangs of men were working from both ends at 
one time, and the two headings meet without any variations of the centres. In 
this slope twentjr-four entries can be opened which will give it a capacity of 1,000 
tons a day. The slope on the rise has also been driven to daj- light, where 
twelve gang-ways can be opened, giving an output of 600 tons a day. 

Drifts Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 have a united capacity of 500 tons a day. In 
all the above openings are 20 miles of track, employing 22 mules and 500 tram 
cars. These mines, owing to their natural location, are perfectly dry and eco" 
nomically operated without the aid of machinery. 

THE LAURA SLOPE. 

This new opening is one and one-half miles southeast of slope No. 1. It has 
been sunk o50 feet from the surface, with the seam gradually dipping from the 
top of the ground to its present terminus. The seam at this mine is four feet 
nine and one-half inches by actual measurement, perfectly uniform in thickness 
and of the very finest quality. The timbering for supporting the roof is excel" 
lent. It is done by ten-inch square pine posts, running perfectly straight without 
any variations whatever. There will be a double track and one man-way in the 
slope. When complete it will be the best piece of engineering work in the 
Pratt mines, forming one continuous underground tunnel, extending thousands 
of feet with cross entries right and left, running from it, which in their turn will 
have rooms on either side. To a mining man this slope is an interesting sight 
and one that would rejoice the heart of the fortunate owner of a similar proper, 
ty. If there are still in the world any skeptics or prejudiced persons who deny 
the fact that Alabama has the finest coal fields in the world, the writter would 
like to show them the magnificent seam in the Laura slope at the Pratt mines. 

This mine will be worked on scientific principles; the coal will be mined en. 
tirely by machinery of the most approved style. The plans of the engines, 
drums, compressors, boilers and chute show them to be of the most elaborate des- 
cription. The engines and drums are now being manufactured at the works o* 
the Linn Iron Company, whose excellent machinery is so widely known. 

THE VENTILATION 

Of all these mines is most perfect. It is done by means of steam jets, fans and 
furnaces which give a boutntiful supply of pure, fresh air in the slopes, entries 
and rooms. 

ENOCH SLOPE. 

This is a new enterprise of the company, situated one and one-half miles 
from the Laura, and named in honor of the President, Enoch Ensley. Every 
modern improvement is applied to it, such as air compressors, mining machines, 
coal drills and endless ropes. It is expected that 1,000 tons daily will be the 
output. 

NAPOLEON SHAFT. 

This is projected work to commence August 1st. It will be 300 feet deep. 



172 

It is supposed the Base of the Pratt Vein will be reached at that . distance- 
Hoisting engines and all the machinery for this shaft will be built in Birmingham, 
at the Linn Works. Engineer Johns says coal will be reached early next year, 
and the capacity of the shaft will be 1,500 tons daily. 

In addition to the grand coal mines and blast furnaces of this company 
described above, they expect to build 

STEEL AND PIPE WORKS, 

Which will employ 1,000 men. 




W. A. Gould. 



The following is a list of the more important coal and iron 
industries of the mineral region of Alabama. 



BLAST FURNACES. 



CAPITAL STOCK. 



HANDS EMPLOYED. 



Woodward, $1,000,000 600 

Woodstock, 600,000 700 

Tescumseh, 200,000 350 

Shelby, 600,000 400 

Edwards, (now preparing to go into blast.) 
Brierfield, " " 

Eureka, $830,000 300 

Mary Pratt, 300,000 

Alice, 750,000 

Coosa, 125,000 



173 



Sloss, 7.00,000 

Williamson, 120,000, now being built. 



Agg'gate active fur'ce capital, $5,275,000. 

The majority of these Furnace Companies contemplate en- 
larging their plant, and at least ten new ones or restored ones are 
assured of early completion. 

NEW FURNACES. 

The new furnaces now in course of construction or soon to 
begin, are : 

Pratt Coal and Iron Co., 4 

Thomas Co., 2 

Sheffield, 4 

The DeBardeleben Co. expect to build several. 
The Thomas Co. are among the largest furnace m :n of 
Pennsylvania. They own some $400,000 mineral lands rear 
Birmingham, and will probably develop them fully from the 
small beginning above indicated. They bought their land nearly 
twenty years ago, and are therefore, among the pioneers of the 
new era in Jefferson County. 

The other more important iron and coal industries are : 

Pratt Coal andiron Co., $1,500,000 

Henry-Ellen Coal Mines, 450,000 

Coalburg Coal and Coke Co 500,000 

Birmingham Rolling Mills, 300,000 

Anniston Car Wheel and Axle Works, 1 00,000 

Milner Coal and Railroad Co., 200,000 

Pierce Warrior Mining Co., 120,000 

Helena Coal Co., 100,000 

. Watts Coal and Coke Co., 100,000 

Morris Mining Co., 100,000 

Va. and Ala, Mining and Manufacturing Co., 200,000 

Cahaba Coal and MiningCo., 1,000,000 

Brierfield Coal and Iron Co., 750,000 

Birmingham Iron Works, 50,000 

Bibb Branch Coal and Coke Co., 50,000 

Mabel Mining Co., 50,000 

Jefferson Foundry, 30,000 

Linn Iron Co., 30,000 

Beggs' Stove Factory, , 17,000 



174 

Boland's Foundry, 10,000 

Iron Bridge Manufacturing Co., 25,000 

Aikin & Lighton's Foundries, ' 25,000 

Birmingham Chain Works, 10,000 

Total, $5,717,000 

These enterprises are all prosperous and hopeful, and in ad- 
dition to the $5,275,000 active capital engaged in the manufacture 
of pig iron, they represent $5,717,000, devoted to handling iron 
and coal in large quantities. The average age of these in- 
dustries hardly exceeds four years. 

The following table shows the growth of the pig iron in- 
dustry in Alabama in ten years. The State will probably stand 
fourth in pig iron producing at the end of this year, as she did 
fifth at the opening of it : 

1876, 24,732 tons. 

1877, 41,241 " 

1878, 41,482 " 

1879, 40,841 " 

1880, 77,180 " 

1881, 98,081 " 

1882, 112,765 " 

1883 172,465 " 

1884, 189,644 " 

1885, 227,438 " 

The coal output of the Alabama mines in the same period 

of ten years, is as follows : 

1876, 100,000 tons. 

1877, .■ 175,000 " 

1878, 200,000 " 

1879, 200,000 " 

1880, 340,000 " 

1881, 375,000 " 

1882, 800,000 " 

1883, 1,400,000 " 

1884, 1,800,000 " 

1885, -2,225,000 " 

In 1880 the coke product was 60,781 tons, from 316 ovens. 

In 1885 there were 1,200 ovens with a product of 304,509 tons, 



175 

making Alabama rank next after Pennsylvania in coke pro- 
duction among all the states. 

The banking capital of Birmingham was in 

1880, $ 50,000 

1884, 150,000 

1886, 600,000 

The assessed value of Jefferson Comity alone, increased 
$2,000,000 for the year 1885. This increase was due to the in- 
troduction of new mining and iron manufacturing industries. 

The city tax of Birmingham for 1886 aggregate in amounts 
assessed as follows : 

Real and personal, $19,733.24 

Licenses for 1886, say 23,000.00 

Merchants tax, say 3,000.00 

Street tax, say 3,200.00 

Poll tax, say 1,800.00 

State appropriation ior schools, 1,311.84 

Tuition in public schools,, 3,500.00 

Total amount, ..$55,545.08 

The average per capita city tax, is about $2.50. The aver- 
age under this head in New York is about $27.00. In New 
Orleans about $15.00. 

REAL ESTATE. 

The land included in the corporate lines of Birmingham, 
cost the Elyton Land Company, estimating the streets as well as 
the lots, about $25,000, some seventeen years ago. Excluding 
the streets, the area is now worth, tried by the daily transactions 
in unimproved lots, not less than $5,000,000 cash. This simple 
statement is the most eloquent justification of the hopes of Bir- 
mingham which can be published. It is legitimate effect from 
eternal cause. The mind familiar with the early history of great 
industrial development will seize at once upon the salient fact that, 
the first steps, in exposing to commerce the wealth of the moun- 
tains surrounding Birmingham, have been the only doubtful steps 
in its progress toward a grand and inestimable realization. 

Real estate in the city is really not high, but very reasonable 
in price, in comparison with other Southern cities. But the 
healthly appreciation in prices, the steady market, 'the perfect 
confidence of the resident population in that kind of investment, 




Jefferson County Court House. 



177 

make a marked character for real estate in this city which* is 
literally the foundation of its prosperity. The real estate agents 
are uniformly thrifty men, and some whom came early with 
small means, are now among the large investors. 

It would not be possible to furnish an exact tariff of rates in- 
dicative of the present condition of the real estate market in the 
city. The railroad reservation divides it into two approximately 
even parts from East to West. The location of general whole- 
sale commerce and of the furnaces and iron industries are found 
to be along the blocks convenient to the railroad lines. $5,000 
to $6,000 for a lot unimproved, $250 foot front by 100 deep, is 
perhaps a fair statement of the transfers made in the commercial 
district. Eight or ten squares back a block 200 feet square sells 
for $10,000 to $12,500 unimproved. Private residences of five 
to eight rooms, rent from $20 to $45 per month according to 
location and style of appearance and conveniences. Cottages of 
two to four rooms rent from $10 to $12.50 per month. Business 
houses with shops on the ground floor and offices, bed rooms, 
hotel, etc. above, cost from $10,000 to $25,000 to build, and rent 
$300 to $550 per month. 

The second course of streets, out from the railroad reserva- 
tion, is occupied by lawyers offices, doctors offices, dry goods 
shops, real estate agents, livery stables, laundries, the banks, the 
court house. The third course of streets hold the private resi- 
dences, the city park, the schools and churches, the exposition 
building and grounds, the market house, etc. 

The city papers seldom or never contain advertisements of 
real estate for sale to pay taxes. Money in the city is mostly 
used to build houses, street railways, manufactories, and is placed 
in active business in various ways, but may be obtained on real- 
ty, so steadily appreciating too readily to allow taxes on it to 
default. 

The curbing of the streets and paving of the side-walks is 
progressing rapidly. The water supply is kept up well to the 
demand. The sewerage is constantly being increased. The taxes 
are very light. The public health is excellent. The public 
school system is good and alive to all modern improvements. 
Law and order are maintained. These are all influences which 
enter the real estate market to preserve it on a sound and con- 
servative footing. 



178 



BUILDING MATERIALS. 



The brick used in Birmingham for ordinary house building 
are manufactured here, and sell for $7 per 1,000. There is a 
fire-brick manufactory on the suburbs of the city. There is 
room of course, for a first-class iron mantle-piece and ornamen- 
tal iron work manufactory. The yellow pine region south of 
this on the railroads, is too well known to require description 
here. A vast and prolific yield of pine, hickory, oak, poplar? 
walnut, chestnut and other valuable timber will be open by the 
railroad connections to be at an early day established through 
the Northwestern counties, where those timbers abound. 

It will be remembered that when perhaps in 1859-60, the 
Washington Monument Association called on each State for a 
contribution of a block of native marble to be placed in the 
pile, and to be accepted as commemorative of the state, the 
Govornor of Alabama responded to the suggestion by sending 
one quarried from Talladega County. It was promptly set aside 
by the managers of the monument as an attempted fraud. The 
stone was pronounced a fine Italian importation. The Order of 
Free Masons of Talladega took up the matter, and by formal 
and certified statements, convinced the authorities to whom it had 
been assigned of the truth of the Governor's report. 

The letter following is taken from the correspondence of the 
Mobile Daily Register, its author is well known in Alabama: 

'I'm-: Cahaba Marble Quarries, ~| 
Centerville, Bikb County, February 20, 1886. ) 
Having just returned from a tour of inspection of the marble quarries, near 
Pratt's Ferry, I feel somewhat enthusiastic over the immense possibilities of the 
marble industry of this county. Before the war, before the railroads broke 
down old industries and built up new ones, these quarries were worked. Vance 
& Braam sawed large quantities by water power on Litesey's Creek, which runs 
through the heart of these marble fields. Their output was largely used 
throughout this section for tombstones, and to a limited extent for building pur- 
poses. The mansion of the President of the University of Alabama, at Tuska- 
loosa, contains some of this marble. So docs the Courthouse at Marion, and 
the King House of the same place. There is also a grand plantation residence 
near Marion, the Cuny homestead, at which I was once most hospitally enter- 
tained, which is, if I remember correctly, largely built of this material. You 
must take into consideration that in those days it had to be hauled there long 
distances by wagon, over country roads. There was also another individual or 
firm engaged in the business on Shultz' Creek, who hauled this crude material 
some miles to his works, and made it profitable. His name was told to me, but 
I can not now call it to mind. It is strange that the idea never occurred to men 



179 

of rafting or barging this marble to Mobile. They may, indeed, have done so, 
but I find no one here who can enlighten me as to the facts. It would be a most 
lucrative business. Shallow barges could be sent down on the rises in the river 
almost every month in the year, and if the facts are fairly represented in Con- 
gress with regard to the Cahaba River, and the varied and dormant resources of 
the country through which it flows, such an appropriation should lie made for 
its improvement as will enable such barges to gain access to these quarries at 
all times; for solid walls of this material, white as snowdrifts, rise grandly from 
the water's edge on both sides of the river from 80 to LOO feet. It can be re- 
moved from the bluffs and placed on barges directly beneath. 

In quality this marble is unexcelled, and its variety of color is most remark- 
able. It is pure white in one ledge, while almost touching it is another ledge 
black as jet, and near by nia\ he found large quantities of pale pink, reminding 
one forcibly of the inimitable delicate hue of peach blooms ; then will be found 
a ledge locally called "calico," showing almost every line of the rainbow, weav- 
ing in and out and through and through in perplexing and tangled skein. I do 
not think there can be a finer Held anywhere for a small company to invest a 
few thousands and build up princely fortunes. Should any individual or com- 
pany wish to investigate the subject, I shall take pleasure, pro lx>n<> publico, in 
furnishing all necessary data. 

I feel sure that this subject is worthy of the most searching investigation, 
and that these different marbles will compare favorably with others under the 
most crucial tests. A short line of railroad runs within about five miles of these 
quarries. The finest water-power is at hand, running over the ledges, to show 
the stone. The river runs through and over it. 

No one seems to take much interest in the improvement of the Cahaba, yet it 
is of more importance to Mobile than the Warrior; the latter can bring you only 
coal and iron, while the Cahaba can supply you with enough of that article of the 
best quality to supply you a thousand years, and can also furnish unlimited quanti- 
ties of iron, and marble enough, at a nominal cost, to build a city like London. 
Though we may not see it, the time will come when Mobile, the Venice of the 
New World, will have miles and miles of palaces built ot these beautiful stones, 
bet us accelerate the coming of that time. Who that reads this will raise his 
voice or wield his pen to influence a Congressman to investigate the merits of 
an appropriation for the improvement of the Cahaba River? 

Luther M. Clements. 

The Talladega marble fields are equally remarkable with 
those of Bibb County. They have been Avorked irregularly, and 
on a limited scale for fifty years. Near Syllacauga in 1836-8, a 
Scotchman opened a quarry and carried on an active trade in 
the manufactory of tomb stones. His material was proven to be 
equal to the Italian or Vermont quarries. JHe sent his product 
to distant parts of the state by wagon. Want of transportation 
then as now has delayed development in this importaut and high- 
ly renumerative enterprise. All of the marble, thus far quarried 
in Alabama, has come from the upper layer of the beds. This 
s manifestly not the purest or best of the bed. 



180 

There are not fewer than sixteen outcrops of marble in 
Talladega County. Some of these show a pure black, some varie- 
gated, all susceptible of the highest polish, and practically inex- 
haustible in supply. Others are pure white, and lying side by 
side with these, are richly variegated marble, along side of the 
white and variegated, is at least one large outcrop of dark blue. 
In the quarry of Dr. Hill, near Syllacauga, blocks are found 
with several divisions by the color lines. 

On the property of Mr. Moore, two miles from Munford, 
there is a bluff of marble, bordering a creek, 40 to 50 feet high 
and 1,000 feet or more long. 

THE CHURCHES. 

Religious zeal in Birmingham is healthy and general. The 
city ordinances forbid traffic in the shops, and forbid custom to 
bars or barber shops on Sunday. The streets are quiet and 
orderly on that day. Of course the furnaces by the necessity of 
their machinery and methods, are run without cessation for the 
whole seven days and nights of the week, but all other industries 
cease with the end of the sixth day. The Sunday amusements go 
no farther than car or carriage drives in a quiet way in the 
afternoons to the parks. A professional Base Ball Club attempted 
to continue their daily games on Sunday, but the public soon 
frowned them down. There is never any pretence of amusements 
at the Theatre on Sunday at any hour. 

The Catholic, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Methodist 
Churches, in the chief divisions of the last two, and the Baptist 
are all constantly growing in members. The Jews are now erect- 
ing a handsome Synagogue. The Baptists have recently (July, 
1886,) completed a beautiful church, seating 1,000 or more, and 
are preparing to build another. The Presbyterians promise to 
build soon, a large and handsome brick, and the Episcopalians 
are beginning to prepare for a large stone church. The Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church South, completed a handsome brick 
church, and placed in it a $3,000 organ. All of the churches 
now standing, are filled to overflow every Sunday with well 
dressed and attentive audiences. The choirs are amateur, but 
composed of highly cultivated voices, while singing is en- 
couraged also in the body of the congregation. 

The clergy are practical pastors as well as educated and able 
preachers. 



181 

There is a "Society of United Charities/' which all religious 
bodies of the city directed by their representatives support. 

The Young Men's Christian Association has rooms and an 
active organization. 

The Women's Christian Union Temperance Association has 
an organized branch in the city. 

SOCIAL CLUBS, ETC. 

The Hernia Vista and Alabama Clubs embrace the young 
gentlemen of the city. They give entertainments to which oc- 
casionally ladies are invited. Besides, there is a German Society, 
well supported by that nationality, among which there are not a 
few of the most worthy and influential men of the city. 




There are, however, no men of leisure retired from business 
in Birmingham. An old man is seldom seen on the streets. The 
population came here not to rest and be merry, but to work and 
accumulate. Hospitality abounds, but not the habits or extrava- 
gances of old and finished society. 

The Theatre is a handsome building. Some of the best 
actors play on its boards to full audiences. 

There is a Public Library which grows in appreciation, 



182 

where magazines, newspapers and numerous valuable books are 
kept in good order. 

The business men maintain a Board of Trade, and as stated 
previously, the Doctors are organized, while each religious de- 
nomination maintains its own Societies of both sexes. 

The Hotel accommodations of Birmingham are increasing, 
both in quantity and quality. Two new brick houses for this 
purpose are just completed, and a third, which promises to be 
equal in style and comfort to any in the South, and which will 
command a wide and attractive view from its dome of many miles 
of valley and mountain scenery, is now under contract. 

Generally, the private residences have plots of land, culti- 
vated in flowers, which add to the home-like character of the 
premises. Some have kitchen gardens in the rear, of no mean 
proportions. 

There is a busy life on the streets. Every man hase some- 
thing to do, and is hastening to meet his duty. Failures in busi- 
ness are very rarely reported. The iron and coal industries pay 
many thousands and tens of thousands of money out weekly and 
monthly : the builders, the street railways, street contractors and 
other employers of labor, pay cash regularly to large bodies of 
wage-workers. These distribute their earnings in many chan- 
nels, thus preserving a healthy tone thoroughout the business of 
the city. 

The trade of the city is too young to have created great 
merchants as yet. Yet, there are few whose business is not pro- 
gressive. The iron industries are generally well "sold up" on 
their products. 



DAILY MARKET REPORT. 

Birmingham Daily Age, June 25, 1886. 

(Stocks and bonds revised by J. P. Mudd, Stock Broker.) 

Bid. Asked. 

Mary Pratt Furnace Co. 7 per cent, bonds, 100 100* 

Eureka Iron Co. 7 per cent, bonds, 

Alice Furnace Co. 7 per cent, bonds, 100 

Elyton Land Co. stock, 10.00* 

Avondale Land Co. stock, 150 200 

First National Bank stock 1 55 ........ 1 60 

Williamson Iron Co. 8 per cent, bonds, 101* 



183 



DAILY MARKET REPORT— Continued. 

Bid Asked 

Alabama State Bank stock, 116| 125 

Berney National Bank stock, 122| 

Jefferson County 6 pet cent, bonds, 100* 

Birmingham Street R. R. stock, 148 

Birmingham Insurance Co. stock, 30 

City Schools bonds, 7 percent 102... 

Sloss Furnace Co. 7 per cent, bonds, 105* 

Birmingham Gas Light Co. stock, 100 125 

Jefferson County Savings Bank stock,... 100 125 

Market House Bonds, 102 

Birmingham Ice Factory, 108 112 

Southern Bridge Co 100 

Birmingham Chain Works, 100 

City Sanitary 8 per cent, bonds, 115 

Sloss Furnace stock, 100 

Alice Furnace stock, 100 



* Interest. 

THE NEW INDUSTRIES 

Which at this date (July,) are under way in and near Birming- 
ham, are as follows : 

Kansas City, Memphis and B'gham R. R,... $6,000,000 

Good Water Extension of Ga. Cen. R. R.... 2,000,000 

Completion of the Ga. Pacific R. R 1 ,000,000 

Pioneer Manufacturing Co 1 ,000,000 

DeBardeleben Coal and Iron Co 1,000,000 

Pratt Coal and Iron Co. Furnaces 1,000,000 

Total ...$12,000,000 

There are other smaller iron industries projected, of import- 
ance, such as an iron bridge manufactory, a bolt and nut manu- 
factory, stove works, etc. These enumerated will doubtless 
double the present population in five years. 

SMITHFIELD. 

Dr. Joseph R. Smith owned a cotton plantation on which 
he resided, near the village of Elyton, the capital of Jefferson 
County. The plantation lay in the valley, up against the 
mountain range to the North. Here he raised crops, and reared 
slaves and colts. Bold springs break out from the foot of the 
mountain, and their waters trace across the valley to be utilized, 
in those times, for man and beast. Five hundred acres of the 
old plantation now comprises Smithfield, the most important su- 



184 

burb of Birmingham. From the mountain elevation to the 
South and West, lies the Red Mountain, with the railroads cross- 
ing it, and the furnaces along their lines in full view. To the 
West and North lies the magnificent property of the Thomas 
Company, of Pennsylvania, now building furnaces and coke 
ovens, and in the same direction is the great Pratt Coal and Iron 
Company's property. To the West, a half mile, is Birmingham 
city limits. 

Smithfied is a gently rolling plane, easily drained, and in 
every particular, a superior site for a great manufacturing town, 
combined with advantages for residence lots. It is held by its 
enterprising owner for settlement. Lots are sold on favorable 
terms, and various inducements offered to desirable purchasers. 
Dr. Smith has opened a circular driving park, two-thirds of a 
mile around, well shaded, and free to the public amusement. 
This park drive cost him hundreds of dollars to grade. The 
venerable proprietor, is in truth, entitled to be known as the most 
enterprising man of his years in the county. 

A few hundred people already live in Smithfied, and the 
number steadily increases. The Birmingham and Pratt Mines 
Street Railway passes through its borders. A macadamized 
County road runs through it. Wells of the best water and 
springs along the mountain side abound. Residence lots may be 
had upon the mountain tops, covering a wide view, and where 
the atmosphere is always cool in mid summer, 

THE PEESS. 

We have seen that Robert H. Henly put up the first news- 
paper in Birmingham, and it was published in the office of the 
first railroad passing the site of the city. From that day to this 
the newspapers of the Magic City and the railroads crossing 
here, have joined hands and hearts to promote its prosper- 
ity. It is not easy to determine the relative efficiency of the 
parties to that joint purpose. They have become one in 
motive and inseparable in achievement. The newspaper litera- 
ture of Birmingham is apart from that of the great body of the 
press of the State. It represents the thought which works to 
the future, and to undeveloped conditions, as the hope of Ala- 
bama. The life for which it speaks would take no step back- 
ward to repair the past, but ever trust the future for its realiza- 



185 

tions. A single twelve months of this life sees a wooded moun- 
tain side converted into a populous town, and a million or two 
dollars invested there in active business, and this incident is now 
under process of excution in several localities near the city. Actors 
in these changes, the newspapers are quick to find the intellectual 
tone of their constituencies. Thus it happens, that as the industries 
of Birmingham are peculiar, as regards all else in Alabama, 
so the press of the city is looked upon elsewhere in the State 
with the curiosity of a fresh discovery. It is closely watched, 
to see that new industrial and social conditions may not develop 
new political thought. 

The Birmingham Age covers the morning field. It was es- 
tablished in 1874 by Willis Roberts, the senior of the firm who 
print this book, under the name of the Weekly Iron Age. Mr. 
Roberts is one of the most progressive men of the city, and takes 
great pride in his offspring, rejoicing in the fact that it is daily 
increasing its usefulness. In 1881, the first issue of a daily was 
made by Garrett & Evans who were then the owners. In Sep- 
tember, 1882, a stock company was formed by which J. L. 
Watkins was made editor, the position he now ably fills. In 
1885 Chas. M. Hayes, an experienced newspaper man of Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, bought an interest and assumed the manage- 
ment of the business department. Since then the Daily has been 
enlarged, and at present it is published 8 pages daily and 12 
pages on Sundays. The Weekly is 8 pages, and is published 
every Thursday. The Age being the only paper published in 
the industrial and mineral region of Alabama taking Associated 
Press dispatches occupies a vantage ground possessed by few 
other papers, and as the city grows its circulation radiates in 
every direction. 

The Evening Chronicle is in a prosperous condition. It is 
thoroughly Alabamian in character, taking for its inspiration 
the life and faith of Birmingham, "push." It seeks to place its 
influence first at home, and rely upon the footing of home merit 
to sustain it in its excursion beyond. It is one of the authorities 
chiefly quoted in all parts of the State to interpret the scope of 
Birmingham enterprises and the drift of Birmingham politics. 
Its local department is well filled. Its editor is a son of a 
distinguished leader of politics in the mineral region of Alabama, 
in his life time, and its business manager a descendant of one of 



186 

the most influential and longest established families in the same 
section. 

The Labor Union is a vigorous organ of the Knights of 
Labor, published in neat form and weekly, full of items of in- 
dustrial news. 

The Christian Advocate is a religious weekly. 

Thousands of copies of newspapers and periodicals are sold 
on the streets, and at the book stores, Satuarday evenings and 
Sunday mornings, to the working people. 

The editors of the Birmingham Dailies are young South- 
erners, fully alive to their opportunities. They leave no effort 
untried to attract here, the honest laboring man, and the hopeful 
investor of capital. They have accomplised in their work, more 
substantial benefit to the whole body of the population than any 
other class of citizens. 

THE EAST LAKE LAND COMPANY. 

The previous pages had all been in type when on July (3th, 
the East Lake Land Company was organized in Birmingham. 
Robert Jemison, one of the younger merchants of the city, and 
a son of the former co-partner of Col. Powell, as before men- 
tioned, is the President. The incorporators are all young and 
prosperous business men of Birmingham. 

This Company has purchased 2,000 acres of land, three 
miles from the city, which is to be devoted to residence lots. 
The lots will be large, so as to leave room for a kitchen garden 
about each house. None are to be sold, only to bona fide resi- 
dents, workingmen and business men, who presumably labor or 
do business in the city. There will be no crowding. East Lake 
Park is to be a country neighborhood, where the peaceful and in- 
dustrious citizens and their families go to find homes for the 
length of their lives. No lots are to go to speculators, and the 
fictitious boomer of real estate will be absolutely void of form 
or life here. Low prices for lots will be the order. A railroad 
with improved steam motor will be at once built to connect the 
city with this suburb. The question of distance does not there- 
fore, involve the important item of time to a man of steady 
habits. 

The consideration of suburban cheap homes is now finally 
solved in the future of Birmingham. Her young men of 



187 

energy and wealth, thoroughly identified with the city's fame 
and prosperity, have announced to the world, a broad and liberal 
policy of care for the working classes, and the thousands of 
limited means. These shall be protected in their rights to enjoy 
homes of their own. This local feature of the future of the 
city is a strong one indeed, and is full of significance as the sur- 
rounding mountains of riches. 

The East Lake Park is divided by the never failing Village 
Creek. Along its borders are a multitude of springs of pure 
mountain water. The soil is a gravelly surface over clay founda- 
tion, naturally drained. The location is high and exempt from 
malarial influences. 



Chapter XVII, 



ROCK-DRILLING MACHINERY, 




DRIFTING AND SINKING. 

In these days of improved labor-saving appliances, no min- 
ing equipments is deemed complete without a suitable outfit 
of rock-drilling machines, to be run by steam or compressed air 
as the circumstances of the work may require. Indeed, whether 
it be to push ahead the opening up of a mine, or to increase its 
production under development, the modern power-drill is now 
looked upon as an indispensable adjunct to every well-regulated 
mining enterprise, for the purpose of carrying on the work as 
quickly and economically as possible. 

The adoption of power drills in recent years by the majority 
of mines throughout the country has made these machines so 



189 

well known, and the advantages derived by their use have be- 
come so generally appreciated that the superiority of this mode 
of rock-drilling over hand-labor is no longer questioned, and it 
needs no further or better demonstration than that shown by the 
results of practical experience in so many of the best conducted 
and most productive mines of our land. 

The great advantages of power-drilling being conceded, the 
selection of the best machines for the purpose is the next and 
most important step to be considered, for the greater or less suc- 
cess of the system depends entirely on the character of the ma- 
chinery employed. The money paid for a plant is worse than 
thrown away if it is spent on machinery that, owing to faulty 
construction or cheap workmanship, is not adapted to the re- 
quirements of the work, or if ample power is not supplied to run 
the machinery properly. 

Drilling in hard rock or ore is, from the nature of the work, 
the hardest that a machine can be put to, and it calls for peculiar 
qualities of strength combined with lightness, rapidity of move- 
ment combined with durability, and great eifective power com- 
bined with simplicity of mechanism, which but very few ma- 
chines possess. 

Prior to the introduction in 1870 of the now famous Inger- 
soll Rock Drill, there had been no rock-boring machine 
constructed which had met with general favor. Many attempts 
had been made to produce a rock drill which should combine 
the essential qualities required in this class of machinery, but 
these attempts had resulted in complete failures, or at best, only 
in partial success. 

The advent of the Ingersoll Rock Drill brought about a 
wonderful change in the methods of mining and rock excavating 
in general, and it only needed its appearance, a few years later, 
under the new and improved form named the " Eclipse," to 
firmly establish itself as the standard machine of its class, des- 
tined to become the popular favorite and to be universally 
adopted. 



190 




STOPING AND PIT MINING. 

The principal feature of the " Eclipse " Drill is its valve 
motion, which is an entirely novel and most ingenious device, 
but very simple withal. It is an independent, positive moving 
valve, shifted only and directly by the steam or air used, so that 
rocker arms or valve tappets (that source of so much mischief in 
all other drills) are entirely done away with, and breakages re- 
duced to a minimum as also the number of quick moving and 
wearing parts. 

Perfect as the " Eclipse " Drill seemed to be when first pro- 
duced, it has still been undergoing constant improvement, both 
in the machine itself and in the various styles of mountings re- 
quired for different kinds of work. The valve movement has 
remained the same, practice having shown that it can not be im- 
proved upon; but other parts of the drill have been modified, 
according as a more extended experience suggested further im- 
provement. The piston and chuck, for instance, are now made 
in one solid piece of forged steel, the upper end of the steel bit 
being held in the chuck by a round key and a U-shaped bolt, the 
whole arrangement imparting great solidity and strength where 
it is most needed to stand the effects of repeated powerful blows 
against hard rock, while allowing a much readier yet firmer ad- 
justment of the bit in the chuck. Other additions and altera- 



191 

tions have been made from time to time, all tending to increase 
the effectiveness and strength of the machine, whilst simplyfying 
its mechanism, thus materially reducing the possibility of its get- 
ting out of order and liability to breakages. This drill, in its 
prerent shape, is so well adapted to all kinds of rock excavation 
and performs its work so rapidly, steadily and reliably, that it is 
difficult to see wherein human ingenuity can improve it any 
further. 

The engravings represent the Ingersoll Eclipse Rock Drill 
in the different positions as generally used for work under 
ground. The first cut shows the Drill mounted on plain Shaft 
Bar for sinking, also on Drifting Columns with arms for tunnell- 
ing, drifting, ete. The next cut represents the Drill supported 
on Arm Column and also on Tripods, showing some of the many 
positions to which the Tripod can be adjusted for drilling in 




INGERSOLL "STRAIGHT LINE" COMPRESSOR. 

room excavations, overhand and underhand, stoping, and all 
large workings under ground, or for surface work where a column 
can not be properly braced. The drill can be ehanged from 
column to tripod at will, and on either mounting, can be directed 
any angle from vertical, up or down, to horizontal, with equal 
effect. 

If the drills are to be run by compressed air, eiiher for con- 
venience or necessity, a perfectly reliable compressor of ample 



192 

capacity should be provided. For the sake of saving a few dol- 
lars in the original cost of a plant, the mistake is often made of 
buying a compressor either too small to run the required number 
of drills effectively, or so inferior in construction, that it can not 
safely be relied upon to do its duty smoothly, steadily and con- 
tinuously for any length of time, the result being that the ma- 
chine requires much looking after and is continually breaking 
down at some point or other, just when the power is most needed, 
thereby causing expensive delays and costly repairs. The full 
benefit of power drilling can only be secured by employing the 
best and most reliable drills and compressor, of sufficient capacity 
to do the work. 

The new improved " Straight Line " Air Compressors made 
by the Ingersoll Rock Drill Company are reputed as being the 
best in this line of machinery. As the space of this article will 
not allow an extended description of their Construction, we will 
merely mention some of the principal features which combine to 
make these compressors so eminently successful. 

The steam and air cylinders being placed in line, and the 
two pistons connected to the same rod, insures steady motion 
with direct strains. They are designed for medium stroke, low 
speed, which experience has proved to give the best results with 
the least wear on the machine. 

An improved form of poppet valve has been adopted both 
for the inlet and outlet of the air, which increases the capacity 
and effectiveness of the compressor as compared with the old 
style slide and center stem poppet valves. A perfect system of 
cooling the air during compression is effected by a spray pump 
attached to the air cylinder, and by this means, together witli a 
peculiarly constructed tank, the reduction of the temperature is 
not only accomplished, but practically dry air supplied ; an im- 
portant point in that it obviates the difficulty of freezing in ex- 
haust ports of machines. The steam cylinders are fitted with an 
improved form of adjustable cut-off valve to secure the greatest 
economy of steam. Each machine is provided with a patent 
automatic Regulator which adjusts the supply of air to the de- 
mand pume and on the compressor by any number of drills or 
other machines that may be running at any time up to its full 
capacity : this is done entirely automatically and positively, so 
that it requires no attention from the engineer. 



193 

The whole machine gives evidence of being compactly and 
strongly built, with the best of machinery and workmanship. It 
has steel crank and cross-head pins, phospher bronze boxes, 
valves and guides, sectional composition packing rings, etc., etc. 

'These compressors are built in various sizes, varying in 
capacity to run from 1 to 20 drills, and, when a larger volume of 
air is required, the Duplex form is generally used, which 
ranges up to 40 drills. 

Where water power is available a belt compressor can be 
used to advantage, as it obviates the necessity of steam power, 
and consequently saves the cost of boiler and fuel. This, style is 
made either with pulley to run by belt, or geared, to connect 
direct to shaft of water wheel or independent engine. Com- 
pressed air can be conducted almost any distance through suit- 
able iron pipe, without material loss, and it will run any engine 
that can be driven by steam. 

Mining men and others contemplating the use of improved 
machinery in this line, would do well to send for one of the very 
interesting catalogues published by the Ingersoll Rock Drill 
Company of 10 Park Place, New York. 




ADVERTISEMENTS 



SHAW & DAVIN, 




Engines, 

Boilers, 
Corn Mills, 
Sugar Mills, 
Saw .Mills, 
Cotton Gins, 
Cotton Presses, 
Shafting, 
Pulleys, 
Hangers, 
Couplings, 
Journal Boxes, 
Circular Saws, 
Saw Gammers, 

Emery Wheels, Head Blocks, 
Shingle Machines. 



Inspirators, 
Jet Pumps, 
Steam Pumps, 
Braining Pumps, 
Force Pumps, 
Well Points, 
Steam Gauges, 
En gine Govern ors, 
Elevator Buckets. 
Lubricators; 
Belt Fa steu ers, 
Belting, 
Packing, 
Wrenches. 

Brass Goods, Evaporators, 

Pipe Fittings. 



CAUGRAPH WBXTXKQ MACHINES, 



Office and Depot, No. 224 20th Street, 

P 0. Box, 808, 



Birmingham, Ala. 



NABERS & MORROW, 



Wholesale and Retail 



JD^TZrOrOrX S TS 



And Dealers in all kinds of 



BURNING and LUBRICATING OILS. 

2012 FIRST AVENUE, 

J. "W. HUChHES, 

DRUGGIST AND PHARMACIST, 



FIISOIlFfl@IS mi NEH MTI0U8 A BnRSALfT . 



Cor. 19th St. & 2d Ave. Birmingham, Ala. 



W. T. SMITH J. H. MARBURY. W. T. ANGELL. 



SMITE MARBURY & CO, 



-DEALERS IN- 



amp 



Lqmbw, Laths, Shingles, Weather 

FLOORING, CEILING, Etc. 

Telephone 208, p. o. Bo.x 406. Birmingham, Ala 



C. H. Francis & Co. 

Wholesale and Retail Dealers in 

BOOTS^SHOES. 



C. H. FRANCIS & CO. 

The old reliable shoe men, finding 
their old stand inadequate for the ac- 
commodation of their growing trade, 
have just completed for themselves a 
large store on 

Second Avenue, 

NEAR 21st STREET, 

fitting it up with all the elegance of a 
Parlor, and with an eye to Modern 
Improvements, making it superior in 
all its appointments as a 

FIRST-CLASS SHOE STORE, 

Their second floor is occupied by shoemakers' sup- 
plies and leather of all descriptions. 

They manufacture shoes to special measure, and 
also, make Boot and Gaiter Uppers to measure at Cin- 
cinnati prices. 

Our Repair Shop is the best in the city. 

We offer great bargains in Boots and Shoes at our 
New Store than ever before. Come and be convinced. 

GL K. nB-A-2^TOIS 6s CO. 

The Great Shoe Men, 2d Avenue, near 21st Street, Bronze, 
Green and Gold Front. 




E. WALL. 



—ESTABLISHED IN 1880.- 



P. GIACOPAZZI 



WALL & GIACOPAZZI, 

WHOLESALE 




AND 



COMMISSION MERCHANTS, 



Second Ave. & 20th Street. North Side. 



Bi^n^cinsro-xac^^n^, ^Xj.a.. 



REFERENCES. 

S. Oteri, New Orleans, La.; Wm. D. Clarke & Co., New Orleans, La.; Jos. 
Dinunzio, Louisville, Ky.; Cowing & Clark, Cincinnati, Ohio; Buhr, Wendte & 
Co., Cincinnati, 0,; A. G. Conant & Co., New York; Underbill, Stewart & Skotta, 
New York; First National Bank, Birmingham, Ala. 



THE LEVYTYPE CO, 

No. 96 West 5th Street, 

oiasroiasr3sr-^.Ti, - ohio. 



DESIGNERS 



-J±N 3D- 



lioto-Eng^iaveis. 



The undersigned most respectfully recommend their services to all those 
business houses in the South requiring Engravings or Illustrations of any kind- 
Our facilities are equal to any Eastern House in our line, and our geographical 
position insures greater dispatch. 

The process of Photo-Engraving is rapidl} r taking the place of the older and 
slower methods of producing Illustrations, and recommends itself by its greater 
cheapness, speed and faithful reproduction of the objects desired. 

We have a competent staff of Draughtsmen and Artists permanently employ- 
ed, who will make Designs, for any purpose, which will be submitted to customer 
for approval if so desired. 

We have our own Electric Light of 6,000-candle power, which enables us to 
work independently of the sun, and gives us a decided advantage over other 
firms who are dependent upon the uncertainties of the weather. 

Our plates are delivered type high, blocked on wooden base, on type metal; 
will print as many impressions as type itself with careful handling. They can 
also be Electrotyped. In ordering, always state exact size of cut wanted. We 
can enlarge or reduce from the original 

We shall alwaj r s be glad to furnish estimates. For coarse work and for 
newspaper cuts, we also use the White Plate process, which, although not near 
so good and perfect as Photo-Engraving, is much more rapid and can be utilized 
for those purposes where fineness and exactness is not required. By this method 
we can finish a plate one hour after order is given. 

Hoping to be favored with a share of your patronage, we remain 

Most respectfully, 

THE LEVYTYPE CO.. 

Cincinnati, Ohio. 



OLMSTEAD & KIERNAN, 

Merchant Tailors 



.A.3STO 



-^Gent's i FuRNisimnsK- 



Agents For 

!DTJ m 2<TlL l ^^^ , S HATS 

AND 

Wilson Bros Perfect Fitting Shirts. 



Fine Goods a Specialty. 



SHIRTS MADE TO ORDER. 



-A_I_iXj ~WOTZl<£. IDOZbTIE in THE CITT. 



Call and Examine Our Stock. 
FIRST AVENUE, Bet. 19th and 20th Streets. 



Geo. C. Kelley, 



Dealer in 



Hardware, 

Tinware, 

House Furnishing Goods 




Mining, Furnace, Railroad, and Mill 
Supplies and Agricultural Implements. 

1917 2d AVENUE, BIRMINGHAM, Ala. 



T. H. MILBURN, E. ENSLEY, HARRY HARSH, L. B. BROOKS, 

President. Vice-Prest. Sec y and Treas. Supt. 



LINN IRDN CD. 

Founders • Machinists 



STATIONARY 



AND 



Furnace Blowing 
ENGINES, 

Furnace, flill, Mining \ Geipl MaGJiinery 

CASTINGS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION OF 

Iron, or Brass, 

All kinds Of 

Boiler and Sheet Iron Work. 

Plans and Complete Estimates for Complete Power 

Outfits Furnished on Application. 



JOHN B. RODEN, 

fflHOLESALE AND RETAIL 

Book-Seller and Stationer, 

AND DEALER IN 

Pianos, Organs and Musical Merchandise. 



In all the principal line of trade and industry, which make 
up the bulk of Birmingham's material wealth, and constitutes 
the foundation of her prosperity and success, there are houses 
which stand prominently forth as the leaders of their respective 
lines, not only from the extent of their business, but as well from 
the high and thorough character of their management, their com- 
plete identification with the growth of their line of trade, and 
the active and efficient part they have taken in advancing its 
interests. 

*In the particular line of trade, in which he is engaged, 
this position is unanimously assigned to J no. B. Roden, the 
Leading Book-Seller and Stationer, and dealer in Musical Mer- 
chandise. 

This house was established in 1875, and from the beginning, 
his business continued to expand. He is admirably- situated on 
2d Avevue, between 19th and 20th Streets, occupying two large 
stores, one for Books and Stationery, and the other given exclu- 
sively to Pianos, Organs and Musical Merchandise of all des- 
cription. His stock of Books and Stationery is complete and 
fresh, and we bespeak the particular attention of dealers in the 
city and surrounding country, to this reliable and responsible 
house. 

His prices are as reasonable as can be made, and the firm 
is prepared to make quotations and estimates at rock bottom 
figures. This house employs a large corps of clerks and sales- 
men, and keeps a number of traveling men, continually repre- 
senting them " on the road." 

He makes a specialty of the Smith Organs and Everett 
Pianos, as well as all the best makes of Pianos and Organs from 
the leading manufacturers of the country, together with the best 
assortment of other Musical instruments, and all kinds of Musi- 
cal Merchandise to be found in the city. 

It should be a great source of gratification to Birmingham 
people, to see such an'enterprise located in their midst, and every 
encouragement should be extended, to insure success, which is 
most assuredly deserved. 



B. W. HUGHES, 





j&. 3^r id 

Planing Mill. 

This Establishment, located on Powell Avenue, between 
19th and 20th Streets, does a 

General Lumber Business, 

And carries, beyond question, the 

Largest Assortment and Best Lum- 
ber ever handled in this market. 

At this Yard can be found 

ASH, OAK, WALNUT, CHERRY, YELLOW 
Pine, Poplar and Cedar. 

In the Sash, Door and Blind Department, 

It stands at the head of the Manufacturers of these 
goods in the South. 



MABERRY & ASHFORD, 

JOBBERS AND RETAILERS OF 

Paints, Oils, Varnishes and Brushes, 

Plate # "^TT'ln.dLO^TT G-lass, 

Mirrors and Mirror Plates, Picture Frames 

Easels and Artists' Material Wall Paper, 

Window Shades, Cornice Poles, 

Curtain Fixtures, &c, &c. 

Sole State Agents for Dupau's Plate Glass. 

1912 2d AVENUE, BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 

Jj^jT'Samples of Wall Paper and estimates on Glass furnished on application. 

E.L.HIGDON 

THE SKHH-I-AJBIjEi 

Wholesale Fiuit $ Produce DbqIbi 

AJSTID 

Commission Merchant 

Present Office and Salesroom, 2213 2d Avenue, 
ce, Salesroom and Warehouse after September 1st, 



Morris Avenue and L. and N. R. R. 

References : — Banks and Business houses of the city. When you visit our 
city, make my store your headquarters, 



INGERSOLL ROCK DRILL CO. 

10 PARK PLACE, NEW YORK, 



Manufacturers of the Reliable 




US" BOOK BRILLS, 

'" Straig-lit Line ' ' 




DIM 




ning f 





-ALSO,- 



Special Quarrying Machines. 



Over 4,000 Ingersoll Machines used by Mining 
Men, Contractors, Quarrymen, etc. 
throughtout the country. 



Over 200 Ingersoll Drills and 20 Ingersoll Compressors 
used in the New York Acqueduct Tunnel. 



Complete Plants Furnished. 

Estimates cheerfully given, 

Send for Illustrated Catalogue, 



Industrial Protective 

OCIATION 



J. Q. FLYNN, President. 



F. T. HAWKE, Secretary. 




Main Office, Enslen Bank Building, Corner 2d Avenue and 2 1st Street, 

p. o.- Box 26, Birming-lians., .A-la/bama. 



A Benevolent Association for the Advancement and Pro- 
tection of the Industrial Classes. 

Let every one join the Industrial, knowing that equal protection 
is guaranteed to all. 

Protection Against Loss by Deaih or Sickness is 
the moral duty of every one. 

"A prudent man maketh a wise provision, for in the hour 
of health and prosperity he foreseeth adversity." 

Secure a membership at once. Delays are dangerous. No 
extra payments. No Fines. Entrance Fee, $1. Annual Dues, 
Children, 50 cents. *^°Send for Circulars.' ' 



H. F. DeBardeleben, 

President. 



Pra 




S. T. Brittle, 

Sup't and Treas. 



(Mill 



MANUFACTURERS OF ALL KINDS 




0M«fll 




W 



1 T 'P 1 = 







cww 



i ■' * 



4 . 

... .,.■ ■■■,.,;, 




Dressed Klooring, 



-AND- 



FINISHING LUMBER, 

VBRBB1TA, .A.I_.JL:B.A.:m:.A.. 



Having extensive Side Tracks and our own Switch Engine, 
we have superior advantages for handling and loading cars 
promptly. 



A. G. REGECLIHG, 



MANUFACTURER AND DEALER IN 



SB 




r 



u 



■n ■■ ■■ an bb v ran xi kbboohh Evr fwbFm 




Mi and Ss 




Carriage Trimming Done to Order. 



South Side First Avenue, betweeu 19th and 20th Sts., 
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 




DR. G. H. KIDNEY, 

Veterinary 



BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 

INFIRMARY AT 

F. H. GAFFORD & COS LIVERY 
STABLE, 

1st Ave. bet. 21st and 22d Sts. 



B. L. HlBBARD, 

■Attorney at Law and Solicitor ii| diaipy, 

Rcoji 1, Jefferson County Savings Bank, P. 0. Box 492, 



Will practice in all the State Courts, the U. S. District and Circuit Courts and 
the Supreme Court of the United States. 
Refers by permission to Hon. Jno. T. Morgan and Hon. Jas. L. Pugh, U.S. Senate ; Hon. 
W . h, Clarke, Judge 1st Jud. Dist. Ala. 



RICHARD W. BOLMD, 

MANUFACTURER OK 

Railroad Frogs, 

Crossings, 
Switches, 

Track Tools, 
Portable Railroads 
and Tram Cars. 

General Wrought Iron Work, 

Jail and all kinds of Structural 

Wrought Iron Work. 



JAMES WEATHERLY. 



SAM L A. PUTMAN. 



WEATHERLY & PUTMAN, 

^TTOjESZLTZE-STS AT IL. AT*7" 

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 



Office, 1144 Twenty«first Street. 




ARCHITECTS, 

Stores, Residences § Churches 

Drawings made for Remodeling, and Bills of Quantities. 

EVERYTHING IN OUR LINE ON SHOET NOTICE. 
Birmingham, Ala. 

MiFmimgkmm WmwhM W@fMm 9 

ITMHT11 UEXK ££&&3 jfirt.:^ a*™ 1 *! HBTOOB ETMU 00053 M09BI J0^ USES BBMBI 

Practical Workman and Dealer in 

American | Italian Garble, Scotch r S Native Granites 

Manufacturer of all kinds of 

CEMETERY, MARBLE AND STONE WORK, 
Cor. 2d Ave. and 24th St., BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 

STREET CARS PASS THE DOOR. 



Moore, Moore & Handley, 

TOBBEES 

Hardware, 
Iron, Steel, 

W'ood Work, 

Rope, Belting and Barbed 

Wire, Mining, Furnace 

and Railway Supplies. 

Eipies, Hills, Gins, Inter Heels, [todies, 

Dynamite and Powder. 

Morris Avenue and 20th Street, 



Furniture, Carpets, 

Mattings, Oil Cloths, 







mow 

BABY CARRIAGES, 

Bedding, Mattresses, 

SPRINGS AND PILLOWS, 

Feathers, Feathers. 



Furniture of all kinds made to 
order or repaired. 



"U"pla.olstex37- a Specialty. 



Lindsay Furniture Co. 

Wholesale and Retail, 

1911 2d Avenue, Sign Big Red Rocker. 

Biijaaingliaria, .A-la*. 




Mill 



Fumnce \ Railway Applies. 

Atlantic, Giant, Dynamite, 

Judson Railroad Powder, 

Sanderson Bro's Steel, 

Miller ^ Metealf and Parkins 

Crescent Steel, Otsego Coke Forks, 
A Full and Complete Stock of Goods always on 
hand at Market Prices. 

Write for quotations. P. O. Box 39. 

Birmingham, Ala. 



James J. Garrett, 0. W. Underwood. 

GARRETT & UNDERWOOD, 



AttQineif s and Couiiselais at Law 

And Solicitors in Chancery, 

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 
Attend to business in all Courts — State and Federal. 

Offices, Rooms 1 and 3 Second Floor, First National Bank Building. 





" 




S. W. EMMONS 

ion. 

No. 2124 SECOND AVENUE, 

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 

Solicits Consignments of Fruits, Vegetables and Produce Generally. 
Satisfaction guaranteed. Write for Weekly Market Reports. 

J. R. Adams. Clyde J. McCary. 

J. R. ADAMS & CO. 

First Ave., bet. 20th and 21st Sts. 

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 

^BANKRRS =^ 

BIAL ESTATE and IHSUBA HOI AQENTS. 

Special attention given to Collections and handling of Property for non-residents. 
T. A. Radcliff. J. J. Byers. 

R ADCLIFF & BYERS, 

Manufacturers and Repairers Of 

WAGONS, 

Blacksmithing and Horse-Shoeing a Specialty 

Work done on short notice and guaranteed. Country work solicited. 
BIRBtEN'&HdtM, ALABAMA, 



W. J, MILNER. 



W. H. KETTIG. 



MlLNER & KETTIG, 




-DEALERS IN- 






;•) 6 




'r-i •* 



\qtf~y 




X 



PLUMBERS' SUPPLIES, 

WROUGHT IRON PIPS AND FITTINGS, 

Brass Goods for Water, Steam and Gas, Gas Fitters' and 
Machinists' Tools, Etc., Etc. 

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. 



Write for a Catalogue.- 



4N4LYTIGAL and CONSULTING 

m. j Jl"I m^J ill I vj% 

Laboratory 27 Granby St., 

NORFOLK, VA. 



H. C. ERMINGER, 

Wholesale and Retail Manufacturer 

— OF — 

STKICTLT 

PURE CANDIES, 

1905 Second Avenue, Birmingham, Ala, 



Is the Leading 

BAKERICONFECTIONER 

IUST THE CITY. 

Fine Cakes and Ice Cream a Specialty. 

Second Avenue, bet. 21st and 22d Sts., 

Birmingham, Alabama. 

^— THE- z ~ 

Southern Pacific Tea Co. 

Second Ave., bet. 21st and 22d Sts., 

Have the Best of Coffee, 

Have t e Best of Teas, 

And the Purest of Spices. 



Coffee Roasted at their place of businees three days in the week. 



XCELSIOR 

Steam Laundry, 

19th STREET Bet. 3d and 4th Avenues. 



-*-• — <»•»" — «-»~ 



"X.L.C.R" 

Orders by Mail or Express Solicited. 

I want an Agent in Every Town. 

P.O. Box 700 J\ T3L. XJEIE, Piop- 



J. A. MONTGOMERY, C. E. 
TV. T. WRIGHT, PERKINS & HOBBY. GAY & BOWLES. 

Montgomery 9 Wright&Co 

Engineers and Contractors, 

Engineering and Construction of Short Line Railways 
A Specialty. 

P. 0. BOX 724. Birmingham, Ala. 



— DEALER IM — 



Groceries and Pro visions, 

HAY, CORN, OATS, BRAN, ETC. 

Second. Av©., "bet. 21st and. 22d Sts. 

BlKMINGHAM, ALA. 



CS^Goods delivered free to any part of the city. Telephone No. 118. 



Wm. AIKIN, 

Late of the firm of Aikin & 

Drummond, Louisville, Ky. 



Samuel H. Lighten, 
Formerly with Aikin & Drum- 
mond, Louisville, Ky. 



AIKIN & LIGHTON 

Iron ft Fonniirv ant 





Manufacturers of 



in's I 
Sifter and B 



ding Machine, Power 
LADLE for Foundry use. 



Street Railway Tum^Tables, Switches, Turnouts, Frogs, 
and Crossings, Tram Car Wheels and Axles for Ore 
and Coal Mines, Cast Iron Flower Vases 
Urns, Grates, Fronts and Fenders. 

Doors, Door Frames, Grates and Bearing Bars for Brick Kilns, 
Sash Weights, Cast Washers, etc., etc. 

Office and Works, 2d Avenue and 16th St., Birmingham, Ala. 



JEFFERSON 



Pressed 



ill: 



Works, 



South. Side G. ft ft. ft. 
Twenty-ninth and Thirty-first Sts. 

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 




MANUFACTURE 

COMMON AND STOCK 



Samples and Prices furnished on application 



Amzi Godden, 
§i|«ggbf t 



Cor. 2d. -^"^re- a-rid 21st St. 

B1RMINGHAM, ALA. 



Large and Complete Stock of Choice Drugs and Chemicals. 



Samuel Oilman, 

1808 and 1810 Second Avenue, 

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, 

Jobber and Dealer in 

GherxeraJ. 4 ZE3Zard.Txra.re, 

Mine, Mill, and Furnace Supplies, Sash, Doors and Blinds, Lime, Cement, Plas- 
ter, Hair, Paints, Glass, Putty, Oils, Varnish, Nails, Bar Iron, Steel, 
Horse Shoes, Marbleized Mantels, Grates, Cutlery, Edged 
Tools, Grind Stones, Oil Stones, Etc., Etc. 
Orders Solicited and Estimates Cheerfully Given. 

E. T. WILDSMITH &^a 

DEALERS IN 

STOVES TIN-WARE 

\tJr U \JP V !■ %& b> m Bill WVflll mama, 

AND HOUSE-FURNISHING GOODS, 

Manufacturers of 

Galvanized Iron Cornice, Window Caps, and Sheet-Iron Work, 

First Ave., Bet. 18th and 19th. 



S. Torrey, W. H. Naff. 

The Pioneer Grocer. 

TORREY & NAFF, 

Dealers in 

Staple VFancy Groceries, 

Tobacco, Cigars and Snuff. 

Coffee Roasting a Specialty. Goods delivered Free. 

18th Street, Cor. 2d Avenue, BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 



R. H. Pearson, W. J. Cameron, W. J. Rush ton, 



President. 



Treasurer. Gen'l Man's 



BIRMINGHAM 



/?* 




f^^k^M 



ICE 



v^i 







Factory Comp'y 



Manufacturers of 



DISTILLED SPRING WATER ICE 

Capacity, 16 Tons Per Day. 

Agents for 

ZEXelexxa* Ghreute Coal. 

Factory, Corner Avenue C and 21st Street, 



C. T. HUGHES, 



DEALER IIsT 



DRESSED and UNDRESSED 

LUMBER 







Yellow Pine Lumber, 

LATHS, SHIfl&LES AID I0LDIMS 

OB 1 BTBBT IDESCE-IFTIOIsr. 

Makes a specialty of 

MOLDINGS AND DRY FINISHING LUMBER. 

Scroll Sawing Done to Order. 

Prepared to Furnish Lumber and Moldings in Car Lots. 

Planing Mills and Yard, 24th Street and Ga. Pacific R. R. 
!Birm.i:n.g\Liai*i, -A*lsu 



Wm. Berney, Robt. Jemison, J. B.» Cobbs, 

President. Vice-Pres't. Cashier. 



-THE 



BERNEY 

NATIONAL BANK, 



OF BIRMINGHAM. 



^1 

u 

□ 

m 



rti 

■iH 

ft 

cd 
U 



□ 
□ 

□ 

m 




CS2 



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CO 



BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. 



H. F. DeBARDELEBEN, ROBT. JEMISON, 

L. D. AYLETT, T. H. ALDRICH, 

CHAS. WHEELOCK. JOS. McLESTER, 

M. T. PORTER, J. B. COBBS, 

WILLIAM BERNEY. 



W. J. Cameron, John C. Henley, E. W. Linn, T. O. Smith, 

President. Vice-President. Cashier. Ass't Cashier. 



FIRST 

National Bank, 



Of Birmingham. 



SUCCESSOR TO 



The National Bank of Birmingham and the City Bank of Birmingham. 



Gash Ma 



5 




DIRECTORS: 

T. L. HUDGINS, P. H. EARLE, 

H. M. CALDWELL, E. W. LINN, 

T. T. HILLMAN, JOHN C. HENLEY, 

WM. A. WALKER, Jr. W. T. UNDERWOOD, 

W. J. CAMERON. 



Wholesale and Retail Dealer in 

STAPLE AND FANCY DRY GOODS, 

Groceries, Clothing, Hats and Caps, Boots, Shoes, Crockery, 
Bagging, Rope, Cotton Ties, Hardware, Nails, &c. 

No. 2011 AND 2013 SECOND AVE, Bet. 20th AND 21st STS., 
Birmingham, Ala. 

Real Estate anrf Insuronce Affent, 

Roden Building, Cor. 2d Ave. and 20th St., 

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 



Buying and Selling of Property. Rents collected. 

FREEMAN'S TEMPLE MUSIC 

Wholesale and Retail 

Piano and Organ Warerooms, 

Sheet Music and Musical Merchandise of all kinds, 

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. 
Pianos and Organs Tuned and Repaired. 

CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED. 



ROUSSEAU &: DETTERICH, 



AND 

SUPERINTENDENTS. 



All Orders from a Distance Promptly Attended to. 



Office, Jefferson County Savings Bank Building, Room No. 2. 



J. E. ELLIS & CO. 




e Urunxrists 



-AND- 



MANUFACTURING PHARMACISTS, 

CHEMICALS , 

Sole Manufacturers of 




CD 
& 

do" 

DQ 
o 

& 

•I t^ 

> CD 

op 

^ ' >Ti 

™ i— 1 



W 



w 






P - 



CD 



O 
CD 
O 

o 
o 

CTC3 

P 

CD 



B 



c-t- P 
CD^ 

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P-- 

CD 



-ALSO DEALERS IX- 



Surgical Instruments, Fancy and Toilet Articles. 

PAINTS AND OILS AT WHOLESALE. 

Second Avenue, bet. 20th and 21st Streets, 

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. 



J. P. MUDD, 

BROKER, 



— AND DEALER IN 



Investment Securities, 



BUYS JL2XJD SELLS 

City, County, Railroad, Furnace, Mining, 
and Bonds of Every Description. 



-ALSO- 



Bank Insurance, Gas, Street Railroad, 
Furnace, and other Stocks. 



FIRST-CLASS 

REAL ESTATE NOTES, 

Bearing 8 Per Cent Interest, 

ALWAYS ON HAND. 



Correspondence Solicited and Promptly Answered. 



Reference : First National Bank, Birmingham, Ala, 



Phil Schillingers 





BREWER OF 

PURE LAGER BEER 



Orders Promptly Filled. 



^ADDRESS- 



PHIL. SCHILLINGER, 

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 



T. S. SMITH, 

Wholesale and Retail Dealer in 

Dry Goods, ptiop, Clothing, Boots # $\m 

HATS -A-HSTID CAPS, 
Hardware, Saddles, Bridles, Harness and Family Groceries, 

2Dth ST., BET. 1st AND 2d AVENUES, 

Birmingham, Alabama. 



AL. F. HDCHSTAETER, Agent, 

Successor to M. FOX & CO., 

MANUFACTURER OF 

SODA 1 MINERAL WATERS, 

GINGER ALE AND CIDER, 

Essences and Syrups of all Kinds for Fount and Bar Use, 

20th St., bet. 3d and 4th Avenues, 

P. O. Box 45. Birmingham, Ala. 



GEDR&E C. RUSSELL, 

Fine Family Groceries 

Olioice Brands of 

Tobacco and Cigars. 

Telephone, 125. 2023 Second Avenue. Free Delivery. 

P. O. BOX 513. TELEPHONE 381- 

ARTHUR OWEN WILSON, 

Oor. Nineteenth and Second Avenue, Birmingham, Ala. 

Surveys, Location, Estimates for and Construction of Railways. 

Plans, specifications and estimates furnished for iron bridges, roofs, and all 
other superstructures. 

Water-works and Sewerage Systems examined, reported on and estimated 
for. Construction of every class laid off andsuperintended. Plane, land, topo- 
graphical, and hydrographical surveys. Sub-division of property for town sites 
and other purposes carefully executed. River and harbor improvements and 
Canal Construction undertaken in any locality. 

All orders from a distance promptly attended to. A staff of reliable and 
experienced engineers and draftsmen always in the office. All work guaranteed 
correct. 



C. P. Williamson, J. B. Simpson, H. D. Williamson, 

Pres. and Treas. Sec'y. Ass't Sup't. 

Williamson Iron Co 



Manufacturers of 



Pig Iron, 



SUCCESSORS to — 



C. P. WILLIAMSON, 

As Manufacturers of 

Steam Engines, 
Boilers, 

Tanks, 



AND- 



SHEET IRON WORK. 



Iron and Brass Castings. 



RAILROAD CASTINGS ASPECIALTY 

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 




TRUNK LINE 

TO AND FROM 

BIRMINGHAM! 

TO ALL POINTS 

North and North-east, 
West and North-west, 
South and South-east, 



Double Daily THROUGH Trains 

Pullman Buffet Sleeping Cars. 



This Line is Unrivalled in 
Speed, 

Con.str"a.ctIon., 



IBc^-cLiprELerrt. 



J. T. HARAHAN, 

Gen'l Manager, 

Louisville, Ky, 



C. P. ATMORE, 

Gen. Pass. Agent, 
Louisville, Ky. 



C. F. ENSLEN, 

Pres't. 



EUGENE F. ENSLEN, ROBT. H. STERRETT. 

Cashier. Att'y. 




Tvrr 






BmimrGHAiii ala. 



Transacts a General Banking and Exchange 

Business. 







O 



^^fe^^fe^j^^^ ^- in »^« M -- ;B °"'^-Ftr- 



< 

Accounts of Banks and Bankers, Merchants, Corporations, and 
Manufacturers received on the most liberal terms. 

Makes Collections Direct 

On all accessible points in this and adjoining States at lowest 

rates of exchange, and proceeds promptly remitted on 

day of payment, without delay. 

Business of Correspondents Receives our Personal and Prompt Attention. 
Satisfaction Guaranteed. 

This Bank uses every endeavor to serve all its patrons with 
reference to their best interests. Correspondence solicited. 



Regular Correspondents. 



Central Nat. Bank, N. Y. 
La. " ' N. O. 

German " " Cin., 0. 



Louisville Banking Co., Louisville. 
W. H. Leinkauf & Son, Mobile. 
Coni'l Nat. Bank, NashTille. 



WHILDEN & CAMPBELL, 

Cor. Ave. B and Twentieth Sts., 

Birmingham, Alabama, 

Wholesale and Retail Grocers 



A fine line of Fresh Groceries always on hand. Country Produce a Specialty. 




Fresh Lard, Butter, Cheese, Canned Goods of all kinds, Tobacco, Cigars, Etc. 

Coal Oil, Lamps, Flour, Rice, Potatoes, Onions, and such Goods as are kept 

in a first-class Grocery. Asparagus, Imported Goods, Hams (Gilt 

Edge Dove Brand), Deviled and Potted Meats, Candies, 

Sugar, Molasses, Bread, Soap. 

We are receiving a fresh supply of FANCY GROCERIES at all times. 
Call and give us a trial. Goods delivered to all parts of the city. 



BIRMINGHAM 

Iron Works, 



-MANUFACTURERS OF- 



Steam Pumps, 




CORLISS ENGINES, 

SLIDE VALVE ENGINES, 

CAST IRON, GAS and WATER PIPE. 

Castings and Machinery of all 
Descriptions. 



TFTR= 

Evenin 
= Chronicle. 

$6.00 a Year, 50 Cts. a Month 

FREE, FEARLESS, INDEPENDENT, 



FILLED WITH THE 



Choicest News, Local and General, 

Gathered by all the Best Modern Methods. 



THE 



SUNDAY 

CHRONICLE. 



ONLY ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 



-FILLED WITH THE- 



Cream of the News from the Daily. 



ADDRESS THE OSBONICLB, 

Or CRUIKSHANK & GRACE, Publishers, 

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 



A. O. Lane. 



E. T. Taliaferro. 



B. H. Tabor. 




LANE, IALIJPW TABOR, 

ck 



J 



o& 



a 



Solicitors in Chancery, l 



> i 



OFFICES : 

I 3, 5, and 7 Roden 



^BTSJ^KXlSTGr'IELJLls/L, ALA. 



GEO. H. ROGERS 

STATIONER, 



Blank Book 
Maker, 




Publisher, 



WE MAKE A SPECIALTY OF 



BLANK BOOKS » STATIONERY 

FOR 

OOTjnSTTY OFFICERS, 

ZB^ZLnTIECS, 

ZR^IXjIE^O^IDS. 

We have the most extensive house for Commercial Stationery south of Louisville. 



2lst Street, Cor, of Th ird Avenue, B IRMINGHAM, ALA. 

Geo, D. StonestrYetT^ 
Mining Engine bt, 

Office, Second Ave, bet 19th and 20th Sts. 



Mines opened and superintended on scientific principles. 

Mineral Lands bought and sold on commission. 

Accurate Mine Surveys made, and errors corrected. 

Correspondence relative to Mining and Mineral Lauds in the 
State of Alabama solicited. 

For any information, address 

GEO. D. STONESTREET, 

IP. O. BOX 367, 

Birmingham, Ala. 



J. B. MARSHALL 



DEALER IN 




I1ILITIS 



SHINGLES, 



-JL35T3D- 



*MDUL DINGS* 

AND EVERYTHING IN THE 

Building Line 

ESTIMATES GIVEN 



-AND — 



Correspondence Solicited. 



Bet. lath and 13th St., bet. D. P. 
And Ala. B. S. R. R. 

P.O. Box 641. BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 



ZAC P. SMITH. W. fJ. MONTGOMERY. 

THE XjE-A-ZDHsTO- 



1 



SMITH & MONTGOMERY 



2022 First Avenue, 




BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. 

School and Miscellaneous Books, 

BLANK BOOKS -All Sizes, 

Consisting of everything made up 
for the trade. 

Invoice, Record, Cash, Trial 

Balance Book, Notes, 

Drafts, and Receipts, 



The leading articles in the 

STATIONERY LINE 

Letter Presses, 
Files, 

Cash and Post-office Boxes, 
John Holland's Gold Pens, 
Stylographic and Fountain Pens, 
Rubber Bands, 

Office Baskets, 
Slates, 

Steel Pens, 

Inks of all kinds. 
—HEADQUARTERS FOR 

Base-Ball Goods, Masks, Balls, Ball Gloves, ajid 

Protectors. 



ABTISTS' GOODS, 

Surveyors', Architects', and Engineers' Supplies. 

We carry the Latgest Stock of 

StsiticrLer^., Blsm-Hs: IBooIsis, &c. 

Catried by any house in the State. Our prices will compare with Eastern Job- 
bing Houses — we buying in the largest quantities direct from manufacturers. 

Our Mr. Smith will soon leave on his regular Fall trip East, reaching all 
the Largest Manufacturers of Holiday Articles, and we can safely say that our 
line will far surpass any in the market, as they have in the past, 




p 



ittmin^aw g^, 



The only paper published in the Industrial Region of Alabama, 
of* which Birmingham is the center, taking 

ASSOCIATED PRESS DISPATCHES. 

Eight pages daily and twelve pages on Sunday, and will be in- 
creased in size as the advertising encroaches on reading space. 




With increased disjiatches, competent correspondents, brainy 
editorials, energetic and spicy local writers, prompt delivery, a 
solid business system and a policy abreast of the progressive 
times, it shall continue its record of 

THE BEST DAILY 1^2 THE STATE. 



THE LARGEST DAILY AMD WEEKLY CIRCULATION. 
THE WEEKLY IRON AGE 

Is made up from the cream of 288 columns of the Daily. To place it in the 
hands of every soul wanting a reliable family paper, the subscription price is 
reduced to 

ClLsTIE UOJLtJLiJi-tt ZPDEK, YEAR. 
Its news is the Freshest, Latest, and Best, culled from the wide field, covered 
in the Daily by means of that Powerful Agency, the Associated Tress. Its 
-Markets are Reliable, Fill! ami (xood, and carefully revised for each week, so 
that the farmers can depend upon their ACCURAL! I". Its Local News will be 
carefully selected, and be made Readable, Truthful, and Spicy, and the Man- 
agement from this date, will make it an INVALUABLE HELP 'to all those who 
cannot take the Daily. Giving the news of the world in such readable shape on 
all subjects pertaining to Agriculture, Mechanics, Religion, Fashion, Art, 
and in short, to the various subjects of interest to all mankind. 

WSAMPLE COPIES SENT TO ANY ADDRESS/ »»» 

ADDRESS AGE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

Agents Wanted. BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. 



J. H. SHEPHERD 



THE: 



Leading Photographer 




Is now prepared to take all kinds of Photographs, from Life Size down to the 
smallest Locket. He also makes a specialty of Crayon Work, in which he 
has no superior in the State. Call at his Studio, 

SECOND AVENUE, BET. I9TH AND 20TH STS., 

Where MR. SHEPHERD will take pleasure in showing you all the Fine Works 
of Art in his Studio. 

g^MR. SHEPHERD made the Photographs from which the views in this 
work are made. 



■THE- 



Richards House, 



^-c 



Cor. 21st St. and Second Avenue. 



BEST ROOMS, 
BEST LOCATION. 



RATES, $2.00 PER DAY. 



Rooms are well furnished. Prices 
moderate. 

Has an established reputation for 
its Cuisine. Admirably adapted for 
the comfort of families. 

Special rates to large parties and 
permanent guests. 

J. P. RICHARDS, 

PROPRIETOR. 



JAMES B. HOPKINS & CO. 

DEALERS IN 

Looking and Heating Stoves and Ranges, 

IRON MANTLES, GRATES, 

Tinware and House-Furnishing Goods. Roofing, Gutter- 
ing, and Cornice Work. 

No. Ill Twenty-first St., bet. First and Second Avenues, 

Telephone 271. Birmingham, Ala. 

ESTABLISHED IN BIRMINGHAM, 1875. 



I. R. HOCHSTADTER, 

PROPRIETOR 

Iron City Exchange 

A N D 

WHOLESALE LIQUOR MERCHANT, 

1908 First Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama, 

Carries the Largest Stock of 

ZFTIbTIE] LIQ-CXOIRS I2ST THE STATE, 

AMONG WHICH ARE 

W. H. McBRAYER, MELLWOOD; 

CHAS. NELSON'S CORN AND LINCOLN, 

J. T. McGIBBEN FINE BOURBONS, 

MILLER'S CHICKEN COCK FINE BOURBONS, 

MACON, HUGHES & CO., ) pTTRF r TNrnT N lftR . 
TOLLEY & EATON, J-NJRH LINCOLN, 1881. 

FINCHE'S GOLDEN WEDDING RYE, 

GUCKENHEIMER (Freeport) FINE RYE, 

AND ALL OTHER FIRST-CLASS LIQUORS. 



For any information concerning Birmingham 
address (enclosing 50c) 

N. T. GREEN & CO., 

Publishers Birmingham Illustrated, 

Birmingham, Ala, 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I.— The Geologic a i, Formations of Alabama in their Indus- 
trial and Agricultural Relations. — The Mineral Region; The Coal 
Fields and the Valley of the Tennessee ; The Granite and Gold Region ; 
The Newer Formations of South Alabama 7 

CHAPTER II. — North Alabama, or the Mountain; Manufacturing and 
Mineral Region of Alabama. — Tennessee Valley; Stone Coal, Iron 
Ores, Limestones; Coal and Coal Measures, the Thickest in the United 
States: Warrior Coal Field; Cahaba Coal Field: Coosa Coal Field ; 
Limonite or Brown Hematite; Limonite of the Anti-Clinal Valley; 
Limonite of Little or Russellville Valley; Drift Deposits: Carbonate of 
Lime; Magnetite or Magnetic Iron Ore; Pyrites or Pyrite ; Limestone; 
Marble; Gold; Copper; Lead; Manganese; Corundum; Asbestos; 
Mica; Graphite; Grindstones and Mill Stones; Building Stones; 
Flagging and Paving Stones; Road Materials; Petroleum; Mineral 
Springs; Lumbering ; Manufacturing and Milling; Agricultural IT 

CHAPTER III. — Alabama Mineral Lands. — Analysis of Ores, Coal, Coke 

and Lime 43 

CHAPTER TV. — Birmingham, Alabama, the Magic City. — Cause and 
Effect: Coal is Power; Factory System; Its Southern Character; 
Origin of the City; J. C. Stanton and Josiah Morris; Col. W. S. 
Ernest; The Organization; The City Chartered; First Sale Day; One 
Hundred Dollars; Cholera; The First Pulsation of Returning Life; 
Transportation 49 

CHAPTER V.— A Corporation with a Son.. The Elyton Land Com- 
pany. — Relay House ; Water Works ; Bankrupt; Signs of Life; Build- 
ing a City; Donations; Eight Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand 
Dollars; Not Charity; Offers to Individuals 15 

CHAPTER VI— Robert H. Henly, First Mayor 91 

CHAPTER VII.— James R. Powell, "Dike of Birmingham."— The Ala- 
bama Press Association; Press Association of New York; First 
" Boom." 95 

CHAPTER VIII.— Labor, — The Negro in his True Relation to the New 

South as a Laborer 101 

CHAPTER IX.— Sanitary 11? 

CHAPTER X.— The Suburbs. — Avondale ; Lake View ; Smithfield ; 

Woodlawn ; East Lake 123 

CHAPTER XI— .Public Education 129 

CHAPTER XII. — The Railroads. — Memphis and Birmingham; Mobile 
and Western; Water Lines: The Future of Alabama ; Railroad Lands 135 



(a.) 

PAGE 

CHAPTER XIIL— Farming Lands 139 

CHAPTER XIV.— Early Representative Men.— Thomas Peters; J. W. 
Sloss; Henry F. DeBardeleben ; Henry M. Caldwell; Judge Mudd; 
Dr. Joseph K. Smith; John T. Milner ; Hon. G. W. Hewitt; Dr. M. 
H.Jordan; William H. Morris; Thomas Jeffers ; A. (). Lane; Bayless 
E. Grace. William A. Gould; M. T. Porter; The Dank Presidents 143 

CHAPTER XV. — Cost of Pig Iron and Analysis of Ore and Coke. 

Natural Gas 164 

CHAPTER VI. — Industries. Real Estate. Taxes. City Government, 
etc. — Pratt Mines ; Building Materials ; Marble Fields ; The Churches; 
Social Clubs; Daily Market Report ; The Press 168 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Bird's eye view of Birmingham 2 

Union Passenger Depot 6 

Mary Pratt Furnace 16 

Mineral Exposition Building Is 

Birmingham Rolling Mills 2() 

View of railroads from bridge 24 

Pratt Saw Mill Company, Verbena, Ala 30 

Sloss Furnace Company 34 

Birmingham Iron Works 36 

Jefferson Foundry and Machine Shops 38 

Aiken & Lighten 4o 

Richard W. Boland 42 

The first house in Birmingham 47 

Residence T. L. Hudgins 50 

Public High School Building 52 

South Side Public School Building 54 

Old Relay House of! 

View of First Avenue 58 

View of Nineteenth Street CO 

Residence Robt. Jemison 62 

Residence J. A. Yeates 64 

Autograph Writing R. H. Henley 66 

Berney National Bank 68 

Florence Hotel 7() 

Residence John B. Boddie 72 

View of Second Avenue 74 

Residence A. S. Austin 7<j 

Residence Win. Berney 78 

View Twentieth Street 80 

First National Bank 82 

Birmingham Ice Factory 84 

First Baptist Church 86 

The Age 88 

Residence A. 0. Lane 90 

Portrait R. H. Henley 92 

Portrait Col. J. R. Powell 96 

Knife presented to Col. Powell 99 

Jefferson County Savings Bank 102 

City Hall and Market 104 



(m.) 

PAGE 

Alabama State Bank 10G 

Moore, Moore & Handley 108 

D. W. Hughes' Lumber Yard 110 

First M. B. Church South 112 

Colored Baptist Church 114 

General Offices G. P. Railroad 116 

WestBnd Public School 118 

Birmingham Brewery 120 

Whilden & Campbell 122 

C. T. Hughes, Lumber, etc 124 

Geo. C. Kelly 126 

J. B. Marshall, Lumber 128 

Office and residence A. S. Austin 134 

Industrial Protective Association 140 

J. E. Ellis & Co 144 

Portrait H. M. Caldwell 146 

Portrait W. H. Morris 158 

Portrait Thos. Jeffers 154 

Portrait A. 0. Lane, Mayor 156 

C. H. Francis & Co 160 

Portrait Col. E. Ensley 166 

Portrait L. W. Johns.! 170 

Portrait W. A. Gould 172 

Jefferson County Court House 176 

Milner & Kettig 181 

Bock Drilling and Mining Machinery, three views 188, 190, 191 



INSETS. 

Caldwell Hotel ■ between 48 and 49 

Lakeview Park 124 and 125 

O'Brien's Opera House " 96 and 97 

Map of Alabama " 138 and 139 



ERRATA. 



Line 9, of Preface, insert to promise between "but" and "that. 
Line 13, page 29, read 40 for " 10." 
Line 3, page 113, read 1885 for " 1875." 




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